Anchor Change with Katie Harbath

How do you build a life that unfolds like a story worth telling?

This week, I sit down with the inimitable Kate Hill—writer, cook, mentor, and founder of the creative retreat Camont in Southwest France. Kate has lived many lives: as an art curator, barge navigator, cookbook author, and now as a Substack writer sharing deeply personal reflections on food, place, and creative practice.

In this episode, we talk about:

* The thread of sto...

What if your business could be both wildly successful and soulfully aligned? In this episode, I talk with Rachael James, the founder of Wild Alabaster and Urban Alchemy Coffee Co., about building brands that are both beautiful and healing, crafting a life that fits your actual needs, and how to panic responsibly when the momentum takes off faster than you planned.

We talk about:

* How she accidentally became a crystal dealer and made...

Trust and safety is often misunderstood—seen as reactive, political, or merely procedural. But for those doing the work, it’s something much deeper: a profession built on care, resilience, and community.

Charlotte Willner, Executive Director of the Trust and Safety Professional Association (TSPA), joins Katie to share how she got into the field, what it was like writing the first rules of the internet at Facebook, and why building p...

When headlines fuel distrust in government and disruption feels more chaotic than constructive, how do we hold onto hope—and channel it into real reform?

This week on Anchor Change, I talk with Jen Pahlka—founder of Code for America, author of Recoding America, and former U.S. Deputy CTO—about what it means to not just criticize the system, but to fix it. We dive into:

* Why public servants feel both unseen and indispensable—and how ...

Steve Grove has had a front-row seat to the evolution of the internet, from his early days at YouTube shaping the political division to navigating crisis in state government, and now—reinventing local journalism as publisher of the Star Tribune.

In this episode, I talk with Steve to talk about the through lines in his career, what led him to leave Silicon Valley for his home state of Minnesota, and why going local may be the most ov...

In this conversation, Katie Harbath speaks with Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack, about the transformative role of the platform in the media landscape. They discuss how Substack is redefining trust in journalism, the impact of AI on content creation, and the importance of direct relationships between creators and their audiences. McKenzie shares insights on the evolution of media from centralized control to a more democratic...

This week’s episode is for anyone who’s ever felt overwhelmed by the pace of AI—or unsure of what power they really hold to shape the future.

Rumman Chowdhury is a trailblazer in the responsible AI space—she’s worked in big tech, launched her own nonprofit, advised the Biden administration, and now runs Humane Intelligence. What makes her stand out isn’t just her résumé—it’s her refusal to settle for cynicism.

She calls herself an AI...

In this episode, I sit down with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, for a candid conversation about leading through disruption. From implementing a tighter paywall strategy that turned the publication profitable, to navigating career pivots from editor to executive, Nick shares the lessons he’s learned in data-driven leadership and reinvention.

We dig into the evolving identity of journalists in the Substack era, the ethics of ...

When Suzy Dean left teaching, she wasn’t just making a career pivot—she was reclaiming her peace. In this episode, I talk to Suzy—also known as @woowoobestie_suzy—about the path from high school English teacher to intuitive entrepreneur and creator of her own unique digital brand.

We talk about what it means to show up online with honesty, how to take care of your nervous system while building a business, and why your next big move ...

I’m excited to announce that the podcast returns Thursday, May 29, with a fresh season of conversations designed to help you navigate life's complexities—and panic responsibly. As part of streamlining my brand, the podcast has officially transitioned from Impossible Tradeoffs to Anchor Change. This season, you'll hear stories of courageous pivots, meaningful transformations, and actionable insights from thought leaders including:

*...

In this episode of Impossible Trade-Offs, Katie Harbath and Mike Rognlien discuss the evolution of corporate culture at Facebook, particularly focusing on race and gender bias training. They explore the significance of learning and development initiatives, the impact of recent changes at Meta, and the challenges of navigating political perspectives within the workplace. The conversation delves into the importance of DEI (Diversity,...

For my last podcast of season three and 2024, I’m thrilled to welcome Ravi Agrawal, the Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Policy magazine, to reflect on this historic year of elections.

We discussed the significant trends and observations from the 2024 elections globally during our conversation. He highlights the challenges incumbents faced, the role of cybersecurity and AI in elections, and the geopolitical implications of these electoral...

This week I had the honor of moderating a fireside chat with NPR CEO Katherine Maher and C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist at the National Conference on Citizenship’s annual conference. We were able to record it to bring to you on this podcast.

Katherine and Sam both took on these roles this year, and some of the things we discuss include:

* Reflections on the evolving role of civic media in an increasingly polarized society.

* How NPR and C-SPAN ...

I’m grateful this week that Aaron Rodericks, Vice President of Trust and Safety at Bluesky, made the time to join me for a conversation about how the platform is tackling the surge in users it’s seen in the U.S. since the election. This isn’t the first time they’ve seen such growth spurts—another happened in Brazil when X was briefly banned. These rapid user increases bring unique challenges to moderating content and require some i...

Happy Thanksgiving! I decided to release an episode today because I figured people would want something to listen to while prepping the turkey or driving to see family and friends.

I also know that Thanksgiving and the holidays can be a time when tough conversations arise, especially after an election. That’s why I wanted to talk to Lori Brewer Collins.

Lori is an executive coach. She and I met after the 2016 election when she create...

This week on the podcast, I chatted with Rebekah Park, Vishnupriya Das, Devika Kumar, and Laura Murray, researchers at Gemic, a global growth strategy firm. They worked with Nhu Le, Rachel Xu, and Beth Goldberg from Google’s Jigsaw on a study looking at how young people in India and the US trust online content in the age of generative AI.

I wrote about this study back in October and have been quoting it nonstop to people exploring h...

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If I’m honest, I’m still processing everything. I’m giving myself and others the space to process everything.

But, I still wanted to do a podcast. I have this deep fear that if I don’t stick to a schedule, I’ll fall off the wagon of creating content. It's probably not true, but I like to keep doing things to move forward. Since I had no idea where we would be as a country today, I decided to conduct an exper...

In this episode, I welcome Maria Giannopoulos who shares her unique journey at the intersection of politics and technology, particularly her role in the 2024 Republican National Convention. She discusses the extensive planning involved in organizing such a large-scale event, developing a digital strategy to engage both on-site attendees and online audiences, and the increasing importance of influencers in political campaigns. Maria...