April 29, 2024 • 35 mins
Linsey Davis, an ABC News anchor, discusses her career as a journalist and the challenges of remaining neutral in today's society. She shares her passion for telling meaningful stories and the importance of impactful journalism. Linsey also talks about the changing landscape of media, with the rise of streaming platforms and the ability for individuals to create their brand of television.
In this conversation, Linsey and Cari discuss the importance of having uncomfortable conversations and the lack of nuance in today's society. They explore the challenges of discussing faith and personal beliefs in media and the need for empathy and understanding in conversations overall.
Linsey shares her experience as a children's author and the importance of representation and diversity in children's books.
Connect: @CariChampion @LinseyDavis
Learn More: LinseyDavis.com
Read: Girls of the World: Doing More Than Ever Before
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Me and my photographer. We got to know each other
very well.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Yeah, hello, comest in the car.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yeah, we slept in the car for multiple days, eating
granola and ramen noodles and and people. I think they
don't see that often, so they see a different And
so whenever I'm often a mentor for young aspiring journalists,
and I'm like, if you're just doing this just because
you want to see yourself on TV, this is not
(00:28):
for you. You're not gonna lie really not.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
That was Lindsay Davis.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
She is not only a journalist who interviews heads of states.
She's a mother, she is a wife. She's also a
New York Times bestselling author. Welcome her to Naked everyone, it's.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
The greatest suspers. And then the same man Naked putt
carry Champion.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
The Cary Champion is going to be a champion, a champion.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
They carry Champion, they jot Champion, They care with Champion,
and care with shep and then the same incimni Ward.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Naked. It's so
glad that you are all here hanging out with us.
Like I said, I appreciate you being faithful. We are
wrapping up season three. That's insane. I can't believe it's
been three full seasons. Our guest today has written a book.
It's a New York Times bestseller, Girls of the World
Doing More than Ever. This is her sixth book, but
(01:27):
I would say that this is arguably her passion job.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
You may know her as an ABC News anchor.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Lindsey Davis is on the podcast Today and the beautiful thing,
at least for me, is that when I get an
opportunity to interview people who ask questions for a living,
it makes me feel comfortable because I know they're always
going to have something to say, or they're going to
play big meaning they're going to tell me really great
stories or giving me a different nuance in perspective.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And that's what Lindsey has done.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I think it's increasingly difficult to remain neutral in today's society,
and she's able to do that night in and night
out as an ABC News anchor. And just for fun, sidekicks, giggles,
you name it, she runs half marathons.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Her goal is to run a half marathon in every
single state. I was like, have at that.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
In between doing all the jobs and being a mother
and being all of the things that you need to
be in today's society. Sit back, relax, maybe pull out
a pen and paper. Enjoy this conversation because she is
giving us a lesson.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Enjoy Champion and Carey chat be and the Cary chat.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Hey, everybody.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I'm so excited when I get to do in studio
interviews and more importantly, when I get an opportunity to
meet people who live in the world in which I
do mean thrive in this space called media. It's a
wonder to meet you and how you do it all. So,
Lindsay Davis, thank you so much for being naked or
being on naked right.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, that was the thing. I didn't know the appropriate attire.
I was thinking, like, oh, okay, getting down like that.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Okay with you, I have we have so many mutual
people that we work with and know, and so I
have been able to watch your work and just think,
what what grace, what class, what dignity? Oh, thank you
And it's really for it's an honor for me to
have this conversation with you, because I always think to myself,
(03:20):
there's this this there's something in us I think when
we're young that decides what we want to be in life.
Whether we realize it or not, right, And I'm curious,
did you always know this would be the destination in
terms of I want to be a broadcast journalist, I
want to be a reporter covering.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I did not know that. Now my family would tell you,
and I do vividly remember gathering in my maternal grandmother's
house or grandparents house, and I would gather my family around, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, sister,
and I would entertain them. So I would say, like,
ha ha, excuse me, just a joke, like I would
(03:57):
just do these little riffs and and I also I
would dance like Michael Jackson. I was like a performer
for people. But I didn't know it was going to
be news until fast forward until I was maybe twenty one,
and did just kind of have this aha moment where
I had had a Spanish exchange student in high school.
(04:17):
I was going to visit her while I was studying
abroad my third year of college, and it was the
first time that I was able to just take whatever
classes I wanted. I didn't have the core curriculum that
I had to fulfill in order to graduate. And I
was sitting in her apartment by myself watching the last
No TCS and I should have understood, but really in
(04:38):
the moment, it was kind of like Charlie Brown's mom,
like want wah wah wah, and I just said, I
want to do that, and I never looked back. I
just once I got back to the United States, I
started to seeing because I hadn't done any internships at
that point and at that time, and you might remember,
in order to get an internship you had to do
it in exchange for college credit. It's no longer like that,
(04:59):
fortunately for the students of today. But so then I
went to NYU and got a graduate degree, master's degree
just to get an internship. Oh wow, because I had
kind of decided so late that this is what I
wanted to do. But there was just that epiphany, that
revelation where I decided I want to do this.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
When you say you decided so late, did it feel
late to you because you were still a senior in
college or just you know, you just graduated, does that
feel late?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I have been And there must be some like label
or diagnosis for me. Carry I'm sure because I am
very like you know, milestone, benchmark, next step, next move,
What are we doing interesting, and so I did feel
I would say when I was in my first year
of college and I can't remember, I think it was
(05:46):
the first year, second semester I went to University of Virginia,
and I believe you had to declare your major at
that point. Yeah, And I did have a little anxiety
of like, I don't know what I want to be.
And so it seemed like many of my other class
mates at the time new like they were very clear,
like ohyeah, I'm gonna be an engineer, I'm gonna be
a nurse, and and so I really wasn't sure. And
so I actually was a psychology major. And I did
(06:08):
graduate with a psychology major, which I think totally is
appropriate for what we do. And I thought I wanted
to be a psychologist. I think that I still I
talk to people about their life stories every day.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
What I do do it in a way.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
The funny thing is two different weddings people approached me.
One of them because I in both scenarios I gave
the toast. One of them was my very good friend
throughout middle school and high school. Unbeknownst to me, somebody
approaches me. He was like, you know, I own a
bunch of news stations in Maryland. I think you'd be
(06:51):
great journalists, have great voice, you're a great storyteller. And
the time I was like, oh, yeah, okay, but it
it's funny how that came back right. And at my
sister's wedding, I had given the toast as well, and
it wasn't anyone in the industry, but it was like
people who were saying, you've got to do something with
your voice, You've got to be in the public and again.
(07:14):
And that was maybe, you know, three or four years apart,
and I just didn't really think about it, but it
always would come back to me when I really ended
up sitting in front of a camera with a microphone on.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
It's interesting how life gives you the direction and sometimes
either you feel it you see it, and then you're like, oh,
it all makes sense now, this was all what I
was supposed to do. I think that a path that
isn't so laid out always leads us to where we're
supposed to be. And when you first got into this
business and you had the ability to tell stories and
then maybe even be a therapist, right, because that is
(07:49):
essentially what happened so many times. When was the moment
in your career. Was it early on or did it
take a while where you're like, I'm meant to do this.
There's always just this moment. For me, it was I
was in my very first job. I was a one
man band. I was working in West Virginia, and I
was like, oh, I'm meant to do this because I
still love this. Yeah, I'm sweating, I don't even know
(08:12):
what's going on, but I'm getting to the point and
I can tell stories and I love to tell stories.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
There have been different moments in my life where I
felt like, wow, this fits me perfectly, but I would say,
then I'll go through different phases where you know, and
it's kind of where I was when I started writing
back in twenty eighteen, when I published my first children's book,
(08:38):
where I had felt like maybe I've hit a ceiling,
maybe this is all there is. There was a point
where it did just get routine and like I wasn't
telling meaningful stories that mattered, like the big j stuff
that I really got into this for. It was more
(08:59):
just like, Okay, gotta do this for Good Morning America,
you got to do this for World News, got to
do this for Nightline. You're just churning, churning with very
just quick turnaround and not a lot of change that
you feel like you're impacting on the world. And I
just happened to be having this conversation with a colleague
of mine a week ago because we did a piece
(09:20):
on the La County Juvenile Detention Center and I went
to La for two weeks really you know, different months,
different time periods, and sat and interviewed these now women
who were girls decades ago in the juvenile detention center
for doing things like you know, skipping school, you know,
and then they ended up being molested, abused, raped, And
(09:44):
turns out there are nearly three thousand complaints in this
class action suit and it's still happening today.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
One of the days that we went to interview the
head of the detention facility, they canceled, but because there
was an arrest that day of a probation officer who
had been having sex with one of the kids. And
so those are the stories and then that actually fill
me that I find so fulfilling. Yeah, And it's interesting
(10:15):
because a lot of times people will think it's the
like celebrities and the flash, you know, of like the
red carpet, and for me, I mean, everything is satisfying
in a different way. And so that's why, to answer
your original question, I feel it at different points where
I'm real I remember why I got into it, you know.
(10:38):
But it's not always for the glitz and glam that
people think that it is.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I don't even think, can I be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I think we oftentimes have great assignments and we get
to travel to great places and we get to experience
history in real time. But the glamor of it I
miss because the churn and the burn and the extended hours.
No one can really relate to it if you haven't
done it, because they're like, you're on You're on the
T and the V right, But it's still it's still
(11:07):
a grind.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I mean, I remember being I was working in Indianapolis
at the time, but we went to cover Hurricane Katrina.
No hotels, no electricity, no food. I mean, I was
just me and my photographer. We got to know each
other very well. Hello the car. Yeah, we slept in
the car for multiple days, eating granola and ramen noodles,
(11:28):
and and people I think they don't see that often,
so they see a different and so whenever i'm I'm
often a mentor for young aspiring journalists, and I'm like,
if you're just doing this just because you want to
see yourself on TV, this is not for you. You're
not gonna lie, really.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Not for you. No matter how glamorous you think. I look,
this is not going to be what it is today
today's media. I have this conversation a lot. In the
world of sports. There are so many people, I mean
even also when journalism in general, but there are so
many people who have these platforms who can create their
own brand of television if they will, whether it be
(12:07):
the Pivot podcast or the I Am Athlete. I'm thinking
of all these very all the smoke in my world
for sports. There are all of these athletes who have
now decided, you know, instead of going to work for
the traditional network, I'm going to take my money, my
resources and invest in my own channel because digit is it.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
We are seeing that so often.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
So new media is interesting to me because that's what
they're calling it. Do you see the same in your space?
Speaker 5 (12:32):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And what does that look like to you? As a
quote unquote traditional journalist who grew.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Up differently, Well, I'm reminded of like Murrow when you know,
he was this big radio guy, right and when radio
was first kind of not switching over to TV, but
TV was becoming the new medium at that time, the
new media, and Murrow famously was reluctant, hesitant to leave
radio like what TV, you know, and there was this
(13:01):
kind of fear of the change of the unknown, and
I really relate to that time then now as we're
talking about streaming versus traditional TV or cable news, and
one thing I about it, I love because it's like,
(13:22):
you know, so I anchor World News tonight on Sunday,
which is a thirty minute newscast, but by the time
you have commercials, it's really like twenty two minutes.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Correct, And this is world news.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
So how are you supposed to fit all of that
into twenty two minutes? You know, all the things that
you need to know with the nuance and the context
and give it the appropriate analysis space and time, and
those are the things that you have that luxury with streaming.
We can have a piece all day that yeah, it
doesn't matter, and so you can really take that deep dive,
(13:56):
you can go down those rabbit holes. You can give
people a greater under standing and really just get in depth.
And so I really like that, and so I think
that there's there's something for everybody, right the people who
just want the quick, you know, just want the twenty
two minutes, or if you really want an hour and
a half worth of news. And the nice thing about
where I am right now is I'm kind of straddling
(14:19):
a bunch of different boxes. So I do a radio
two minute broadcast at five o'clock every day, then I
do World News on Sundays, and then I do ABC
News Live Prime during the week in streaming space. And
so I really am, I think, trying to tick off
all the boxes. So like, if you want this kind
of news, we got this kind of you want this,
(14:40):
if you want that, you know, we've got it. And
that is exciting to be really bridging the present, because
it's not the past at this point, but the present
with the future. Maybe we'll yeah, yeah, because I do
think that we are really on this precipice of how
people are. You know, clearly you just don't have families
(15:03):
gathering in front of the TV set for their evening
broad anymore.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
To do that.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
It's impossible to do that. In today's age.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
What you were saying to me is that you have
a diverse portfolio when it comes to your work, because
I think that's what we all have.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
We all have our whether it's a podcast or radio show,
streaming and then TV.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yes, TV to me has now become and okay, I'll
do that too, mm because that's just what it is.
You're streaming for ABC News Live, right, and so then
you have the Sunday show, and then you say you
have radio.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
There are just that's just what it is.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
So it's becoming a melting pot. But it warms my
heart to hear you say because I didn't know that
mar didn't like radio. I mean that he didn't want
to leave radio for TV, right. And it's like, oh,
this is where we are right, this is where we
are right now in this moment, and people are straddling
Like I have friends who are like, but I.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Want to be on a TV show.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I'm like, no one's watching TV if there was watching
your phone unless you're watching a live event. In the
world of sports, that's how you get people to pay attention.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Or I will say. Also, when COVID first happened, yes,
we had record numbers the viewership because and it's interesting
when I went to get my master's degree only to
get my internship, one of my professors said, people tune
into news to note is my world safe?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
That's it?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
And in that moment that may have been the first
time in my lifetime when there was a question is
my world safe?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
That is so true? Well nine to eleven?
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Were you nine to eleven? But I do think that
that was a pocket of the country, right, that was
primarily in Pennsylvania and New York City and Washington, d C.
And people may have felt fear concern for a day
or two, like, oh, could have happened here, But for
the most part, it was a day in a concentrated
(16:49):
part of the country. People in Kansas, in California and
Texas didn't have to worry where with COVID the whole
world was like how long do we have to live? Potentially?
You know, for those first few months, I would say,
at least.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I have one hundred percent agree you're absolutely right now
that you think of that, it was the entire world.
We were all globally in this together. We all were
shut down. We did not know in your right record numbers,
what does it look like.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
What does it beg like? How will it affect my
family family?
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Every champion and carry champions to be a champion, a
champion and carry champion and carrie Chap, be out a
champion and carry champion and carry chap.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Entertainment. kN naked weird?
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Every champion and carry champions, to be a champion, a
champion and carry champion, nigger shot a champion and carry.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Champion and carried chati entertainment. Get naked weird?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
What I get sometimes, especially as as a black woman
in this space, when we present wait. I think COVID
did this for a lot of people. It removed the
veil of what we thought was in our country. And
there were things that we learned they just weren't true,
things that we have been taught since we were in
elementary school and on a very primary level. And oftentimes
(18:10):
in this we're talking about this nuance and where we
are today. Oftentimes when you try to say, well, no,
here is a fact that I do know is a fact,
it feels as if someone says like you're just being
pro black and you're not and you're not and you're
anti American, and you're.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Like, well, this is a fact. Yes, back to just
presenting the facts. This is a fact. This did not
happen according to what our history book says.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
That's just not accurate.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And so now what I am hearing everyone does have opinion,
but it makes it so like to the nuance of
it all. It makes it so incredibly tough to remain
neutral and try to share just the fact. So I
think you saying that to me, it's just someone who's listening.
I have tons of mentas who listen. It's just whyse
let's just let's keep the main thing the main thing,
(18:54):
if you will.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And I think what I'm able to bring, which and
I'm reminded of of I love this quote from a
Shirley Chisholm who said, if they don't give you a
seat at the table, bring a folding chair, right. And
I think that being able to have that seat at
the table allows us to have conversations that people hadn't
thought about. So it's not my opinion, but I'm able
(19:17):
to expose a new way of looking at something, right.
And so for example, during COVID and during the you
know uprising, during George Floyd aftermath, I said, you know,
why don't we have a conversation with At the time,
we had all these black women who were heading up
(19:39):
major cities. So the time, it was like Kisha Land's
Bottoms in Atlanta, you had Washington, d C. You had
San Francisco, Chicago, we didn't have yes, but she was
I think she was after I think she was before COVID.
I think she was before covid ok. But we got
them together, everybody virtual, so it was like, all right,
(20:01):
let's just do this virtual roundtable and do this panel.
And it was interesting because the executive producer I was
with at the time said, this was a great idea
and we wouldn't have thought of it had we likely
not had a black woman being able to bring this suggestion.
And so it's not like I'm giving my opinion. Yeah,
(20:23):
I'm just bringing in a new perspective with my folding chair,
with my folding chair.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yes, I received that.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
So also, you mentioned your books, and that's where you
kind of bring you bring in your your faith. I
didn't know stay years old as the kids say that
you wrote six books, and where do you.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Find the time?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Where do you find the time between all of the jobs,
the full life running By the way, guys, half. Excuse me, folks,
half marathons. You've done forty four yes days.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
So my husband and are trying to run all fifty
states and half marathon any state, and so yes, we
us finished our forty fourth, six more to go, and
those last six could not come soon enough. Yes, where
do I find this? I'm I believe that whatever you're
passionate about, you will make room for.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And so.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
There were a number of things that got me started
with the idea of being interested in writing a children's book.
But part of it was Nazie representation, like I wanted
to for my son as I was raising an African
American son and feeling like I had to be so deliberate.
It was kind of like, aside from February where you'd have,
(21:39):
you know, the twelve books on the center table for
Black History Month, you know, typically I just wasn't finding
books regularly that I wanted, not just with the characters,
but with the message, with the inspiration that I wanted
for my son. So I was like, Okay, well, rather
than complain about it, actually consider myself to be a
(22:01):
storyteller by day, so why not try and expand in
this way? And then another aspect was I feel like,
the news is so heavy, you know what I do.
Especially when my son was a little younger. He's ten now,
but a little younger. I would tell my husband like,
don't even let him watch the news, you know, And
he wanted to see mommy on TV because I was gone,
and so it was like this way that he could connect.
(22:22):
But I felt like it was inappropriate. It was just
too heavy, especially during again the George Floyd aftermath and
the protests and just so much angst. And I felt like,
as a young black male, he didn't need to have
that albatross around his neck. I mean, because he was
already asking, like in the wake of the you know,
Philadelphia Starbucks incident when you had the two black men
(22:45):
who were arrested trying to use the bathroom without buying anything,
and he had said, and he was maybe four or five,
and he was like, are the police going to take
downy and me to jail if we go to Starbucks?
You know, he was identifying, you know, as a black male.
And I was like, this is heavy, and I wanted
to do something where I could share mommy's work, you know,
(23:05):
just here you go. This is what I'm doing and
I don't have to be I don't have to be
concerned that it's causing him harm in some way or stress.
But yeah, so I I do think that first of all,
writing children's books, it's really kind of easy. It's probably easy.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
This one's latest one is a New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The last two.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Yes, yes, congratulations, thank you, congratulation, thanks you really such
a beautiful accou I appreciate that. And I know that
when you're like an achiever and you do a lot
of things, it's just one more thing I'm doing. But
I hope you consider in that that's just a beautiful,
beautiful achievement.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It's one thing that I want to do more is
sitting in it, sitting in it in the moment, right
because I am always like, Okay, onto the next now
what are we doing?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
And what's it?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
You know, and it and then like when you don't
actually savor it, I think that that is a lost opportunity.
And I'm unforse because you just don't appreciate, you know,
what has been accomplished. But I do feel blessed that
people are reading the books. And you know, there was
(24:13):
an essay that I read years ago when I was
first thinking about writing children's books, was called mirrors, Windows
and sliding glass doors, and it was talking about how
the importance of children's books. First of all, children don't
see themselves in the pages, reflected in the pages, they
won't look to books anymore. And that's a problem, right,
because we want children to read. But the idea was mirrors,
(24:34):
because they need to see themselves reflected windows so they
can peer into a world that's unfamiliar to their own.
And the sliding glass door, if that window is to
really be transformative, it can serve as that sliding glass
door to kind of bring them into this different world.
And I think that that is, you know, going back
to our other conversation about, you know, having those difficult
(24:57):
talks about where we are different, I think that the
same thing applies not just to religion or land or
you know, but race obviously. And you know, many of
the characters in my books initially were black and brown,
and I think that people thought, oh, they're black and
blawn characters there for black and brown children, and I
(25:17):
really don't think that that is the truth. I think
that quite often we fear what we don't know, and
so immediately we have boxes and divisions. But if you
can be exposed, and I think quite often that may
not be in your neighborhood, your church, your school, maybe
it's not very diverse, but you can give a child
a doll that's different, right, You can put a book
(25:39):
in their hand that's different. And so that is what
I'm hoping to be able to do, is you know,
be a bridge and through the children's books that I'm doing,
bring everybody into the tent. You know, in this latest book,
Girls of the World, like we're very intentional about making
sure that different religions are represented, really that kids with
(26:02):
you know, two of the girls are in wheelchairs, one
has a prosthetic leg. It's like when we talk about
diversity and let's not just talk about black and color.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's really important, important and important.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Every champion and car every champion is to be a champion,
a champion and carry champion and carried chat Beta Champion
and carry champion and carried chat entertainment, cant naked weird,
every champion and carry champions. To be a CHAMPIONTA champion
(26:35):
and carry champion, Champion, the Cary Champion and carried chatiment get.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Naked word speaking of your book and making sure you're
making everyone is diverse. Characters are diverse, but we're not
talking to skin color. Yes, different needs, different accessibilities. When
I watch programming like that, like a movie or maybe
a series or a saycome, I can't even think of
one right now. But when it pops up and it
doesn't slap you in the face and it feels just
(27:03):
it's natural and this is the world, it's it makes
you understand more.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
It was a show I watch.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
One of the kids had autism, the other you know,
the racially diverse family in a racial marriage, all the
things that were and it wasn't forced. It felt very effortless,
And to me, that is true diversity and what sounds
like what you're trying to accomplish in your in your
storytelling for children, because that's where you're planning the seeds.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
And planning the seed is an expression that I use
quite often with the books in a number of ways,
in tolerance or acceptance, in loving. And the funny thing is, Carrie,
that I think that kids already know Yep, it's the
adults right, you know. People always say like, you know, oh,
(27:52):
kids are colorblind. I totally disagree with that. I kids
see color, they just don't attach a value to it.
It's the adult to do that. And so quite often
I'm like these messages that I'm putting out there, Hopefully
the parents who are reading the books to the kids
are kind of picking something up because the kids already know.
Like I always think about like my son when he
(28:14):
was younger and going off to camp for the day,
you know, meeting new people. He would never come home
and say, like, tell me about somebody's race or gender
or religion. He would just say, oh, my gosh, my
new friend. Mommy. Yeah, he loves Starbucks. I mean, he
loves star Wars just like I do. He loves Legos
just like I do. Kids find the commonality and they
(28:35):
go with it. Adults are more like, oh, but you're different,
and we don't associate, and you believe and you know,
and and that is what I think is so unfortunate.
We just have to think like children. We have to
get back to that kind of way of viewing the world.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
And when he comes home and he tells you about
someone he met, he's not telling you what color they are, No, never,
It's always just here are the quality right? And Wow,
that's so power. That's a thought that we just don't do.
We immediately assign value and you put in a box. Yes,
I see what you mean, and that means this. If
you come from here, yes exactly, and you talk like that,
(29:11):
you move like that, You've already decided who you are
before we've even given you an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
That's unfortunate.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I'm really glad that you're that you are here, and
you are a source of inspiration for me, and definitely
I approve of enlightenment for our children in society because
we need that so much. I wonder in your downtime,
outside of running marathons all over the United States of America,
her downtime six we're six or seven books in six books,
(29:38):
six books in lots of work. I mean, what do
you do to just say no, I'm doing nothing. This
is my funny moment. Do you eat Ramen and watch
Old Sex and the City shows? What do you do
where you just completely veg out and it doesn't require.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Yes to do so one thing. I have a really
bad sweet tooth. Oh good, And that's part of the
reason why I run. I justify like I can eat
this and so therefore I can do this, But my
ideal day, I'm in a robe all day. Mm hmm.
I watch movies with my son. Yeah, I might be
taking a nap during part of that time. We're eating
(30:15):
some like really good takeout food at home and I
don't leave the house all day, and I look a mess.
I have no makeup done, no hair done, and I'm
just in my happy place.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
No, you're not on you're not talking, you're not aware.
Shoulders are right where they belong, not on your ears,
and you know me just enjoying yourself.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
That sounds like a lovely time.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Is there anything that you're watching that I should bench
or any past television shows, because I'm in the process
now I'm catching I for I didn't watch TV for
I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I can't even imagine. I just did. I watched news,
I watched sports or watch live events.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
You've got to watch sports all the time.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Yeah, there was no enjoying television. So I just finished
Game of Throne and I'm trying to have this conversation
with people. They're like, you're about ten years too late.
I'm like wait, they're like, no, thank you. And then
I and now I'm watching Homeland or is there anything
that you've watched in the past or present that you're like,
this has been my go to show that provides a
bit of an escape.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
You know, And I'm going to be the same way
like that you are in that that I'm late because
I watched a series maybe it was like seven, uh
actually episodes with Idris Elba, the Hostage. Oh did you
watch that?
Speaker 3 (31:30):
You know?
Speaker 1 (31:30):
It was a while ago, right, But I just finally
was kind of watched that.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
It was what was it called?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I think it was it called Hostage?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Ju Queen's what was that that I'm asking my producer
cut what was that Elba show called on Apple?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
It was a show on Apple TV, you guys, I
don't remember. I know, I love that show.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
I want to say it was called Hostage, but I
totally might be wrong. No, no, no, but but I
love oh Hi Jack, thank you? Yes, I knew it
started with an age Hi yes, hijack, Yes, yes, yes,
I love frivolous, suspense, thriller things that will take me away, huh.
And it tends to be more that I read like
novels that like, you know, than than binge a show.
(32:13):
But but that was one that I really you know.
That was good. I'm I rarely have the time to
be able to be like next episode, next episode.
Speaker 5 (32:19):
That one.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
I was like, Okay, I gotta watch another.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I have it, I have I have time now. No,
that was great.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
Uh, Sabrina, I know his wife, Sabrina, Sabrina, we love.
She calls him our husband.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
We love. Yes, Yes, we love our husband.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Thank you for sharing.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Thanks for sharing the world. Lindsey Davis. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
It's been a pleasure. I know you have lots to
get to. I just want you to understand that I
do this and I take extra special care of those
who I see that live in the world that I do.
But I've also admired along the way. Although we're peers,
I still have so much admiration because I know what
it takes to stay and sustain and to to prosper
(32:58):
and do your job. Been trying to have a life,
and so it's just always an honor to meet you
doing it and with so much grace. You were way
like a professional.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
She got here like an hour before I did, and
I'm coming in on the phone ship, so I'm kidding, but.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
I was like, oh my god, look, I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
I want to just if I can gush for a
minute with some mutual admiration, because people say, like, oh,
who are you most nervous to interview? When I do
feel a little concerned is when I'm interviewing someone who
is an interviewer and you are fantastic. Thank you. So
it's interesting like when people say, oh, you were great whatever.
You know, this felt like so comfortable. But now I
(33:40):
know what people are looking at because that is what
you gave me, was just that comfortability and that space,
and you clearly did your homework. And so it's just
like an honor to be able to sit across from you.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It's a mutual admiration. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
I appreciate you. Lindsey Davis gone by the book. She
has six of them, y'all six, five s. I'll list
them all for you. Thank you so much for being here,
Thank you for having me so again. Go out and
support Lindsey. Is she not amazing and just so well
versed in so many different issues. The book is called
Girls of the World Doing More Than Ever. It's a
(34:15):
New York Times bestseller. It's her second bestseller, her sixth book.
Check them all out. It's Lindsay Davis. Support her. Wherever
you get your books, Amazon and the book's shop, wherever
you go go out and do that. Last, but not least,
I repeat, this is our very last episode of season three.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Season four is coming. We appreciate your support.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Our hope is that we're bringing you stories that you've
never had before and helping you understand more about different folks.
Maybe we can do that get to that point where
we can have the nuance. So much of what Lindsay
and I discussed today was about that, the nuance in
the stories. That's where we want to live again. Thank
you for supporting all of Naked season one, two and
(34:57):
now three.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
That is a wrap.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Big shout out to my crew, Acquease, Dwayne, I'll hold
it down.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
iHeart Black Effects. We did this. See y'all
Me and my photographer. We got to know each other
very well.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Yeah, hello, comest in the car.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yeah, we slept in the car for multiple days, eating
granola and ramen noodles and and people. I think they
don't see that often, so they see a different And
so whenever I'm often a mentor for young aspiring journalists,
and I'm like, if you're just doing this just because
you want to see yourself on TV, this is not
(00:28):
for you. You're not gonna lie really not.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
That was Lindsay Davis.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
She is not only a journalist who interviews heads of states.
She's a mother, she is a wife. She's also a
New York Times bestselling author. Welcome her to Naked everyone, it's.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
The greatest suspers. And then the same man Naked putt
carry Champion.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
The Cary Champion is going to be a champion, a champion.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
They carry Champion, they jot Champion, They care with Champion,
and care with shep and then the same incimni Ward.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Naked. It's so
glad that you are all here hanging out with us.
Like I said, I appreciate you being faithful. We are
wrapping up season three. That's insane. I can't believe it's
been three full seasons. Our guest today has written a book.
It's a New York Times bestseller, Girls of the World
Doing More than Ever. This is her sixth book, but
(01:27):
I would say that this is arguably her passion job.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
You may know her as an ABC News anchor.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Lindsey Davis is on the podcast Today and the beautiful thing,
at least for me, is that when I get an
opportunity to interview people who ask questions for a living,
it makes me feel comfortable because I know they're always
going to have something to say, or they're going to
play big meaning they're going to tell me really great
stories or giving me a different nuance in perspective.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And that's what Lindsey has done.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I think it's increasingly difficult to remain neutral in today's society,
and she's able to do that night in and night
out as an ABC News anchor. And just for fun, sidekicks, giggles,
you name it, she runs half marathons.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Her goal is to run a half marathon in every
single state. I was like, have at that.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
In between doing all the jobs and being a mother
and being all of the things that you need to
be in today's society. Sit back, relax, maybe pull out
a pen and paper. Enjoy this conversation because she is
giving us a lesson.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Enjoy Champion and Carey chat be and the Cary chat.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Hey, everybody.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I'm so excited when I get to do in studio
interviews and more importantly, when I get an opportunity to
meet people who live in the world in which I
do mean thrive in this space called media. It's a
wonder to meet you and how you do it all. So,
Lindsay Davis, thank you so much for being naked or
being on naked right.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, that was the thing. I didn't know the appropriate attire.
I was thinking, like, oh, okay, getting down like that.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Okay with you, I have we have so many mutual
people that we work with and know, and so I
have been able to watch your work and just think,
what what grace, what class, what dignity? Oh, thank you
And it's really for it's an honor for me to
have this conversation with you, because I always think to myself,
(03:20):
there's this this there's something in us I think when
we're young that decides what we want to be in life.
Whether we realize it or not, right, And I'm curious,
did you always know this would be the destination in
terms of I want to be a broadcast journalist, I
want to be a reporter covering.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
I did not know that. Now my family would tell you,
and I do vividly remember gathering in my maternal grandmother's
house or grandparents house, and I would gather my family around, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, sister,
and I would entertain them. So I would say, like,
ha ha, excuse me, just a joke, like I would
(03:57):
just do these little riffs and and I also I
would dance like Michael Jackson. I was like a performer
for people. But I didn't know it was going to
be news until fast forward until I was maybe twenty one,
and did just kind of have this aha moment where
I had had a Spanish exchange student in high school.
(04:17):
I was going to visit her while I was studying
abroad my third year of college, and it was the
first time that I was able to just take whatever
classes I wanted. I didn't have the core curriculum that
I had to fulfill in order to graduate. And I
was sitting in her apartment by myself watching the last
No TCS and I should have understood, but really in
(04:38):
the moment, it was kind of like Charlie Brown's mom,
like want wah wah wah, and I just said, I
want to do that, and I never looked back. I
just once I got back to the United States, I
started to seeing because I hadn't done any internships at
that point and at that time, and you might remember,
in order to get an internship you had to do
it in exchange for college credit. It's no longer like that,
(04:59):
fortunately for the students of today. But so then I
went to NYU and got a graduate degree, master's degree
just to get an internship. Oh wow, because I had
kind of decided so late that this is what I
wanted to do. But there was just that epiphany, that
revelation where I decided I want to do this.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
When you say you decided so late, did it feel
late to you because you were still a senior in
college or just you know, you just graduated, does that
feel late?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I have been And there must be some like label
or diagnosis for me. Carry I'm sure because I am
very like you know, milestone, benchmark, next step, next move,
What are we doing interesting, and so I did feel
I would say when I was in my first year
of college and I can't remember, I think it was
(05:46):
the first year, second semester I went to University of Virginia,
and I believe you had to declare your major at
that point. Yeah, And I did have a little anxiety
of like, I don't know what I want to be.
And so it seemed like many of my other class
mates at the time new like they were very clear,
like ohyeah, I'm gonna be an engineer, I'm gonna be
a nurse, and and so I really wasn't sure. And
so I actually was a psychology major. And I did
(06:08):
graduate with a psychology major, which I think totally is
appropriate for what we do. And I thought I wanted
to be a psychologist. I think that I still I
talk to people about their life stories every day.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
What I do do it in a way.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
The funny thing is two different weddings people approached me.
One of them because I in both scenarios I gave
the toast. One of them was my very good friend
throughout middle school and high school. Unbeknownst to me, somebody
approaches me. He was like, you know, I own a
bunch of news stations in Maryland. I think you'd be
(06:51):
great journalists, have great voice, you're a great storyteller. And
the time I was like, oh, yeah, okay, but it
it's funny how that came back right. And at my
sister's wedding, I had given the toast as well, and
it wasn't anyone in the industry, but it was like
people who were saying, you've got to do something with
your voice, You've got to be in the public and again.
(07:14):
And that was maybe, you know, three or four years apart,
and I just didn't really think about it, but it
always would come back to me when I really ended
up sitting in front of a camera with a microphone on.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
It's interesting how life gives you the direction and sometimes
either you feel it you see it, and then you're like, oh,
it all makes sense now, this was all what I
was supposed to do. I think that a path that
isn't so laid out always leads us to where we're
supposed to be. And when you first got into this
business and you had the ability to tell stories and
then maybe even be a therapist, right, because that is
(07:49):
essentially what happened so many times. When was the moment
in your career. Was it early on or did it
take a while where you're like, I'm meant to do this.
There's always just this moment. For me, it was I
was in my very first job. I was a one
man band. I was working in West Virginia, and I
was like, oh, I'm meant to do this because I
still love this. Yeah, I'm sweating, I don't even know
(08:12):
what's going on, but I'm getting to the point and
I can tell stories and I love to tell stories.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
There have been different moments in my life where I
felt like, wow, this fits me perfectly, but I would say,
then I'll go through different phases where you know, and
it's kind of where I was when I started writing
back in twenty eighteen, when I published my first children's book,
(08:38):
where I had felt like maybe I've hit a ceiling,
maybe this is all there is. There was a point
where it did just get routine and like I wasn't
telling meaningful stories that mattered, like the big j stuff
that I really got into this for. It was more
(08:59):
just like, Okay, gotta do this for Good Morning America,
you got to do this for World News, got to
do this for Nightline. You're just churning, churning with very
just quick turnaround and not a lot of change that
you feel like you're impacting on the world. And I
just happened to be having this conversation with a colleague
of mine a week ago because we did a piece
(09:20):
on the La County Juvenile Detention Center and I went
to La for two weeks really you know, different months,
different time periods, and sat and interviewed these now women
who were girls decades ago in the juvenile detention center
for doing things like you know, skipping school, you know,
and then they ended up being molested, abused, raped, And
(09:44):
turns out there are nearly three thousand complaints in this
class action suit and it's still happening today.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
One of the days that we went to interview the
head of the detention facility, they canceled, but because there
was an arrest that day of a probation officer who
had been having sex with one of the kids. And
so those are the stories and then that actually fill
me that I find so fulfilling. Yeah, And it's interesting
(10:15):
because a lot of times people will think it's the
like celebrities and the flash, you know, of like the
red carpet, and for me, I mean, everything is satisfying
in a different way. And so that's why, to answer
your original question, I feel it at different points where
I'm real I remember why I got into it, you know.
(10:38):
But it's not always for the glitz and glam that
people think that it is.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I don't even think, can I be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I think we oftentimes have great assignments and we get
to travel to great places and we get to experience
history in real time. But the glamor of it I
miss because the churn and the burn and the extended hours.
No one can really relate to it if you haven't
done it, because they're like, you're on You're on the
T and the V right, But it's still it's still
(11:07):
a grind.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
I mean, I remember being I was working in Indianapolis
at the time, but we went to cover Hurricane Katrina.
No hotels, no electricity, no food. I mean, I was
just me and my photographer. We got to know each
other very well. Hello the car. Yeah, we slept in
the car for multiple days, eating granola and ramen noodles,
(11:28):
and and people I think they don't see that often,
so they see a different and so whenever i'm I'm
often a mentor for young aspiring journalists, and I'm like,
if you're just doing this just because you want to
see yourself on TV, this is not for you. You're
not gonna lie, really.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Not for you. No matter how glamorous you think. I look,
this is not going to be what it is today
today's media. I have this conversation a lot. In the
world of sports. There are so many people, I mean
even also when journalism in general, but there are so
many people who have these platforms who can create their
own brand of television if they will, whether it be
(12:07):
the Pivot podcast or the I Am Athlete. I'm thinking
of all these very all the smoke in my world
for sports. There are all of these athletes who have
now decided, you know, instead of going to work for
the traditional network, I'm going to take my money, my
resources and invest in my own channel because digit is it.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
We are seeing that so often.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
So new media is interesting to me because that's what
they're calling it. Do you see the same in your space?
Speaker 5 (12:32):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And what does that look like to you? As a
quote unquote traditional journalist who grew.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Up differently, Well, I'm reminded of like Murrow when you know,
he was this big radio guy, right and when radio
was first kind of not switching over to TV, but
TV was becoming the new medium at that time, the
new media, and Murrow famously was reluctant, hesitant to leave
radio like what TV, you know, and there was this
(13:01):
kind of fear of the change of the unknown, and
I really relate to that time then now as we're
talking about streaming versus traditional TV or cable news, and
one thing I about it, I love because it's like,
(13:22):
you know, so I anchor World News tonight on Sunday,
which is a thirty minute newscast, but by the time
you have commercials, it's really like twenty two minutes.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Correct, And this is world news.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
So how are you supposed to fit all of that
into twenty two minutes? You know, all the things that
you need to know with the nuance and the context
and give it the appropriate analysis space and time, and
those are the things that you have that luxury with streaming.
We can have a piece all day that yeah, it
doesn't matter, and so you can really take that deep dive,
(13:56):
you can go down those rabbit holes. You can give
people a greater under standing and really just get in depth.
And so I really like that, and so I think
that there's there's something for everybody, right the people who
just want the quick, you know, just want the twenty
two minutes, or if you really want an hour and
a half worth of news. And the nice thing about
where I am right now is I'm kind of straddling
(14:19):
a bunch of different boxes. So I do a radio
two minute broadcast at five o'clock every day, then I
do World News on Sundays, and then I do ABC
News Live Prime during the week in streaming space. And
so I really am, I think, trying to tick off
all the boxes. So like, if you want this kind
of news, we got this kind of you want this,
(14:40):
if you want that, you know, we've got it. And
that is exciting to be really bridging the present, because
it's not the past at this point, but the present
with the future. Maybe we'll yeah, yeah, because I do
think that we are really on this precipice of how
people are. You know, clearly you just don't have families
(15:03):
gathering in front of the TV set for their evening
broad anymore.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
To do that.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
It's impossible to do that. In today's age.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
What you were saying to me is that you have
a diverse portfolio when it comes to your work, because
I think that's what we all have.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
We all have our whether it's a podcast or radio show,
streaming and then TV.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yes, TV to me has now become and okay, I'll
do that too, mm because that's just what it is.
You're streaming for ABC News Live, right, and so then
you have the Sunday show, and then you say you
have radio.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
There are just that's just what it is.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
So it's becoming a melting pot. But it warms my
heart to hear you say because I didn't know that
mar didn't like radio. I mean that he didn't want
to leave radio for TV, right. And it's like, oh,
this is where we are right, this is where we
are right now in this moment, and people are straddling
Like I have friends who are like, but I.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Want to be on a TV show.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
I'm like, no one's watching TV if there was watching
your phone unless you're watching a live event. In the
world of sports, that's how you get people to pay attention.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Or I will say. Also, when COVID first happened, yes,
we had record numbers the viewership because and it's interesting
when I went to get my master's degree only to
get my internship, one of my professors said, people tune
into news to note is my world safe?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
That's it?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
And in that moment that may have been the first
time in my lifetime when there was a question is
my world safe?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
That is so true? Well nine to eleven?
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Were you nine to eleven? But I do think that
that was a pocket of the country, right, that was
primarily in Pennsylvania and New York City and Washington, d C.
And people may have felt fear concern for a day
or two, like, oh, could have happened here, But for
the most part, it was a day in a concentrated
(16:49):
part of the country. People in Kansas, in California and
Texas didn't have to worry where with COVID the whole
world was like how long do we have to live? Potentially?
You know, for those first few months, I would say,
at least.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
I have one hundred percent agree you're absolutely right now
that you think of that, it was the entire world.
We were all globally in this together. We all were
shut down. We did not know in your right record numbers,
what does it look like.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
What does it beg like? How will it affect my
family family?
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Every champion and carry champions to be a champion, a
champion and carry champion and carrie Chap, be out a
champion and carry champion and carry chap.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Entertainment. kN naked weird?
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Every champion and carry champions, to be a champion, a
champion and carry champion, nigger shot a champion and carry.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Champion and carried chati entertainment. Get naked weird?
Speaker 3 (17:47):
What I get sometimes, especially as as a black woman
in this space, when we present wait. I think COVID
did this for a lot of people. It removed the
veil of what we thought was in our country. And
there were things that we learned they just weren't true,
things that we have been taught since we were in
elementary school and on a very primary level. And oftentimes
(18:10):
in this we're talking about this nuance and where we
are today. Oftentimes when you try to say, well, no,
here is a fact that I do know is a fact,
it feels as if someone says like you're just being
pro black and you're not and you're not and you're
anti American, and you're.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Like, well, this is a fact. Yes, back to just
presenting the facts. This is a fact. This did not
happen according to what our history book says.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
That's just not accurate.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And so now what I am hearing everyone does have opinion,
but it makes it so like to the nuance of
it all. It makes it so incredibly tough to remain
neutral and try to share just the fact. So I
think you saying that to me, it's just someone who's listening.
I have tons of mentas who listen. It's just whyse
let's just let's keep the main thing the main thing,
(18:54):
if you will.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
And I think what I'm able to bring, which and
I'm reminded of of I love this quote from a
Shirley Chisholm who said, if they don't give you a
seat at the table, bring a folding chair, right. And
I think that being able to have that seat at
the table allows us to have conversations that people hadn't
thought about. So it's not my opinion, but I'm able
(19:17):
to expose a new way of looking at something, right.
And so for example, during COVID and during the you
know uprising, during George Floyd aftermath, I said, you know,
why don't we have a conversation with At the time,
we had all these black women who were heading up
(19:39):
major cities. So the time, it was like Kisha Land's
Bottoms in Atlanta, you had Washington, d C. You had
San Francisco, Chicago, we didn't have yes, but she was
I think she was after I think she was before COVID.
I think she was before covid ok. But we got
them together, everybody virtual, so it was like, all right,
(20:01):
let's just do this virtual roundtable and do this panel.
And it was interesting because the executive producer I was
with at the time said, this was a great idea
and we wouldn't have thought of it had we likely
not had a black woman being able to bring this suggestion.
And so it's not like I'm giving my opinion. Yeah,
(20:23):
I'm just bringing in a new perspective with my folding chair,
with my folding chair.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yes, I received that.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
So also, you mentioned your books, and that's where you
kind of bring you bring in your your faith. I
didn't know stay years old as the kids say that
you wrote six books, and where do you.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Find the time?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Where do you find the time between all of the jobs,
the full life running By the way, guys, half. Excuse me, folks,
half marathons. You've done forty four yes days.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
So my husband and are trying to run all fifty
states and half marathon any state, and so yes, we
us finished our forty fourth, six more to go, and
those last six could not come soon enough. Yes, where
do I find this? I'm I believe that whatever you're
passionate about, you will make room for.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And so.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
There were a number of things that got me started
with the idea of being interested in writing a children's book.
But part of it was Nazie representation, like I wanted
to for my son as I was raising an African
American son and feeling like I had to be so deliberate.
It was kind of like, aside from February where you'd have,
(21:39):
you know, the twelve books on the center table for
Black History Month, you know, typically I just wasn't finding
books regularly that I wanted, not just with the characters,
but with the message, with the inspiration that I wanted
for my son. So I was like, Okay, well, rather
than complain about it, actually consider myself to be a
(22:01):
storyteller by day, so why not try and expand in
this way? And then another aspect was I feel like,
the news is so heavy, you know what I do.
Especially when my son was a little younger. He's ten now,
but a little younger. I would tell my husband like,
don't even let him watch the news, you know, And
he wanted to see mommy on TV because I was gone,
and so it was like this way that he could connect.
(22:22):
But I felt like it was inappropriate. It was just
too heavy, especially during again the George Floyd aftermath and
the protests and just so much angst. And I felt like,
as a young black male, he didn't need to have
that albatross around his neck. I mean, because he was
already asking, like in the wake of the you know,
Philadelphia Starbucks incident when you had the two black men
(22:45):
who were arrested trying to use the bathroom without buying anything,
and he had said, and he was maybe four or five,
and he was like, are the police going to take
downy and me to jail if we go to Starbucks?
You know, he was identifying, you know, as a black male.
And I was like, this is heavy, and I wanted
to do something where I could share mommy's work, you know,
(23:05):
just here you go. This is what I'm doing and
I don't have to be I don't have to be
concerned that it's causing him harm in some way or stress.
But yeah, so I I do think that first of all,
writing children's books, it's really kind of easy. It's probably easy.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
This one's latest one is a New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The last two.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Yes, yes, congratulations, thank you, congratulation, thanks you really such
a beautiful accou I appreciate that. And I know that
when you're like an achiever and you do a lot
of things, it's just one more thing I'm doing. But
I hope you consider in that that's just a beautiful,
beautiful achievement.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It's one thing that I want to do more is
sitting in it, sitting in it in the moment, right
because I am always like, Okay, onto the next now
what are we doing?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
And what's it?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
You know, and it and then like when you don't
actually savor it, I think that that is a lost opportunity.
And I'm unforse because you just don't appreciate, you know,
what has been accomplished. But I do feel blessed that
people are reading the books. And you know, there was
(24:13):
an essay that I read years ago when I was
first thinking about writing children's books, was called mirrors, Windows
and sliding glass doors, and it was talking about how
the importance of children's books. First of all, children don't
see themselves in the pages, reflected in the pages, they
won't look to books anymore. And that's a problem, right,
because we want children to read. But the idea was mirrors,
(24:34):
because they need to see themselves reflected windows so they
can peer into a world that's unfamiliar to their own.
And the sliding glass door, if that window is to
really be transformative, it can serve as that sliding glass
door to kind of bring them into this different world.
And I think that that is, you know, going back
to our other conversation about, you know, having those difficult
(24:57):
talks about where we are different, I think that the
same thing applies not just to religion or land or
you know, but race obviously. And you know, many of
the characters in my books initially were black and brown,
and I think that people thought, oh, they're black and
blawn characters there for black and brown children, and I
(25:17):
really don't think that that is the truth. I think
that quite often we fear what we don't know, and
so immediately we have boxes and divisions. But if you
can be exposed, and I think quite often that may
not be in your neighborhood, your church, your school, maybe
it's not very diverse, but you can give a child
a doll that's different, right, You can put a book
(25:39):
in their hand that's different. And so that is what
I'm hoping to be able to do, is you know,
be a bridge and through the children's books that I'm doing,
bring everybody into the tent. You know, in this latest book,
Girls of the World, like we're very intentional about making
sure that different religions are represented, really that kids with
(26:02):
you know, two of the girls are in wheelchairs, one
has a prosthetic leg. It's like when we talk about
diversity and let's not just talk about black and color.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's really important, important and important.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Every champion and car every champion is to be a champion,
a champion and carry champion and carried chat Beta Champion
and carry champion and carried chat entertainment, cant naked weird,
every champion and carry champions. To be a CHAMPIONTA champion
(26:35):
and carry champion, Champion, the Cary Champion and carried chatiment get.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Naked word speaking of your book and making sure you're
making everyone is diverse. Characters are diverse, but we're not
talking to skin color. Yes, different needs, different accessibilities. When
I watch programming like that, like a movie or maybe
a series or a saycome, I can't even think of
one right now. But when it pops up and it
doesn't slap you in the face and it feels just
(27:03):
it's natural and this is the world, it's it makes
you understand more.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
It was a show I watch.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
One of the kids had autism, the other you know,
the racially diverse family in a racial marriage, all the
things that were and it wasn't forced. It felt very effortless,
And to me, that is true diversity and what sounds
like what you're trying to accomplish in your in your
storytelling for children, because that's where you're planning the seeds.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
And planning the seed is an expression that I use
quite often with the books in a number of ways,
in tolerance or acceptance, in loving. And the funny thing is, Carrie,
that I think that kids already know Yep, it's the
adults right, you know. People always say like, you know, oh,
(27:52):
kids are colorblind. I totally disagree with that. I kids
see color, they just don't attach a value to it.
It's the adult to do that. And so quite often
I'm like these messages that I'm putting out there, Hopefully
the parents who are reading the books to the kids
are kind of picking something up because the kids already know.
Like I always think about like my son when he
(28:14):
was younger and going off to camp for the day,
you know, meeting new people. He would never come home
and say, like, tell me about somebody's race or gender
or religion. He would just say, oh, my gosh, my
new friend. Mommy. Yeah, he loves Starbucks. I mean, he
loves star Wars just like I do. He loves Legos
just like I do. Kids find the commonality and they
(28:35):
go with it. Adults are more like, oh, but you're different,
and we don't associate, and you believe and you know,
and and that is what I think is so unfortunate.
We just have to think like children. We have to
get back to that kind of way of viewing the world.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
And when he comes home and he tells you about
someone he met, he's not telling you what color they are, No, never,
It's always just here are the quality right? And Wow,
that's so power. That's a thought that we just don't do.
We immediately assign value and you put in a box. Yes,
I see what you mean, and that means this. If
you come from here, yes exactly, and you talk like that,
(29:11):
you move like that, You've already decided who you are
before we've even given you an opportunity.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
That's unfortunate.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I'm really glad that you're that you are here, and
you are a source of inspiration for me, and definitely
I approve of enlightenment for our children in society because
we need that so much. I wonder in your downtime,
outside of running marathons all over the United States of America,
her downtime six we're six or seven books in six books,
(29:38):
six books in lots of work. I mean, what do
you do to just say no, I'm doing nothing. This
is my funny moment. Do you eat Ramen and watch
Old Sex and the City shows? What do you do
where you just completely veg out and it doesn't require.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Yes to do so one thing. I have a really
bad sweet tooth. Oh good, And that's part of the
reason why I run. I justify like I can eat
this and so therefore I can do this, But my
ideal day, I'm in a robe all day. Mm hmm.
I watch movies with my son. Yeah, I might be
taking a nap during part of that time. We're eating
(30:15):
some like really good takeout food at home and I
don't leave the house all day, and I look a mess.
I have no makeup done, no hair done, and I'm
just in my happy place.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
No, you're not on you're not talking, you're not aware.
Shoulders are right where they belong, not on your ears,
and you know me just enjoying yourself.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
That sounds like a lovely time.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Is there anything that you're watching that I should bench
or any past television shows, because I'm in the process
now I'm catching I for I didn't watch TV for
I don't.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
I can't even imagine. I just did. I watched news,
I watched sports or watch live events.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
You've got to watch sports all the time.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Yeah, there was no enjoying television. So I just finished
Game of Throne and I'm trying to have this conversation
with people. They're like, you're about ten years too late.
I'm like wait, they're like, no, thank you. And then
I and now I'm watching Homeland or is there anything
that you've watched in the past or present that you're like,
this has been my go to show that provides a
bit of an escape.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
You know, And I'm going to be the same way
like that you are in that that I'm late because
I watched a series maybe it was like seven, uh
actually episodes with Idris Elba, the Hostage. Oh did you
watch that?
Speaker 3 (31:30):
You know?
Speaker 1 (31:30):
It was a while ago, right, But I just finally
was kind of watched that.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
It was what was it called?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
I think it was it called Hostage?
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Ju Queen's what was that that I'm asking my producer
cut what was that Elba show called on Apple?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
It was a show on Apple TV, you guys, I
don't remember. I know, I love that show.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
I want to say it was called Hostage, but I
totally might be wrong. No, no, no, but but I
love oh Hi Jack, thank you? Yes, I knew it
started with an age Hi yes, hijack, Yes, yes, yes,
I love frivolous, suspense, thriller things that will take me away, huh.
And it tends to be more that I read like
novels that like, you know, than than binge a show.
(32:13):
But but that was one that I really you know.
That was good. I'm I rarely have the time to
be able to be like next episode, next episode.
Speaker 5 (32:19):
That one.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
I was like, Okay, I gotta watch another.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
I have it, I have I have time now. No,
that was great.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
Uh, Sabrina, I know his wife, Sabrina, Sabrina, we love.
She calls him our husband.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
We love. Yes, Yes, we love our husband.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Thank you for sharing.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Thanks for sharing the world. Lindsey Davis. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
It's been a pleasure. I know you have lots to
get to. I just want you to understand that I
do this and I take extra special care of those
who I see that live in the world that I do.
But I've also admired along the way. Although we're peers,
I still have so much admiration because I know what
it takes to stay and sustain and to to prosper
(32:58):
and do your job. Been trying to have a life,
and so it's just always an honor to meet you
doing it and with so much grace. You were way
like a professional.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Guys.
Speaker 3 (33:09):
She got here like an hour before I did, and
I'm coming in on the phone ship, so I'm kidding, but.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
I was like, oh my god, look, I love it.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
I want to just if I can gush for a
minute with some mutual admiration, because people say, like, oh,
who are you most nervous to interview? When I do
feel a little concerned is when I'm interviewing someone who
is an interviewer and you are fantastic. Thank you. So
it's interesting like when people say, oh, you were great whatever.
You know, this felt like so comfortable. But now I
(33:40):
know what people are looking at because that is what
you gave me, was just that comfortability and that space,
and you clearly did your homework. And so it's just
like an honor to be able to sit across from you.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
It's a mutual admiration. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
I appreciate you. Lindsey Davis gone by the book. She
has six of them, y'all six, five s. I'll list
them all for you. Thank you so much for being here,
Thank you for having me so again. Go out and
support Lindsey. Is she not amazing and just so well
versed in so many different issues. The book is called
Girls of the World Doing More Than Ever. It's a
(34:15):
New York Times bestseller. It's her second bestseller, her sixth book.
Check them all out. It's Lindsay Davis. Support her. Wherever
you get your books, Amazon and the book's shop, wherever
you go go out and do that. Last, but not least,
I repeat, this is our very last episode of season three.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Season four is coming. We appreciate your support.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Our hope is that we're bringing you stories that you've
never had before and helping you understand more about different folks.
Maybe we can do that get to that point where
we can have the nuance. So much of what Lindsay
and I discussed today was about that, the nuance in
the stories. That's where we want to live again. Thank
you for supporting all of Naked season one, two and
(34:57):
now three.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
That is a wrap.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Big shout out to my crew, Acquease, Dwayne, I'll hold
it down.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
iHeart Black Effects. We did this. See y'all
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