Mo News - The Interview

How worried should we be about AI, and who should be making the decisions about its future? Mosh sits down with Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Politico and Axios and current CEO of Axios, for a wide-ranging conversation about the technology reshaping our lives.

Jim explains why he takes warnings from AI researchers seriously, what’s at stake in the race with China, and what AI could mean for jobs, journalism and American politics.

They also get into Jim’s new book, ⁠Simplify: How to Do Less and Get More Done⁠. Jim shares how he’s applied that idea at Axios and in his own life: identifying the work that matters most, cutting obligations that consume time without adding much, and using AI to make life simpler instead of busier. It’s a conversation about the future, and how to spend your time well right now.

Mosheh Oinounou (⁠@mosheh⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

2,753 people died at the World Trade Center site on September 11th, 2001, including members of the FDNY and NYPD, and hundreds who were working in the towers or visiting that day, plus the crew and passengers of the two hijacked planes that struck the buildings.

We wanted to remember the real people behind those numbers. And for that, Jill spoke to Erin Jackman, whose sister Brooke Jackman had just turned 23 when she was killed on September 11th. She was working on the 104th floor of the North Tower at Cantor Fitzgerald, a job she had only started two months earlier.

Erin recalls the frantic search for Brooke in the hours and weeks after the attacks, including her family’s visits to hospitals and putting up missing-person posters near Ground Zero. She also shares who Brooke was beyond the attack: a devoted sister and friend, an avid reader, and an aspiring social worker whose memory inspired her family to create the Brooke Jackman Foundation, a children’s literacy nonprofit providing books, school supplies, and family literacy programs.

For more information: ⁠Brooke Jackman Foundation⁠.

As part of Mo News’ special coverage marking 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Jill Wagner sits down with John Feal, a former Ground Zero demolition supervisor who was injured during the cleanup efforts. In the decades since, he founded the FealGood Foundation and became a leading advocate for first responders, survivors, volunteers and others who were injured or sickened by exposure to toxic dust at Ground Zero.

In his new book, I Will Follow You Anywhere, Feal recounts the years-long fight to pass legislation like the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act: how his team organized their relentless lobbying efforts in Congress, built relationships across party lines, and refused to let perfect become the enemy of the good. He also talks about his close relationship with comedian Jon Stewart, and the lessons he learned from lawmakers like Nancy Pelosi about navigating Washington.

Feal also reflects on the responders and survivors who have died or continue to live with 9/11-related illnesses, the ongoing fight to expand healthcare coverage, and what he hopes a younger generation will remember about the attacks on September 11th and the days that followed.

Jill Wagner (⁠@jillrwagner⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. She's the Managing Editor of Mo News. Jill previously worked as a correspondent for CBS News, Cheddar News, and News 12. She also co-founded the Need2Know newsletter, and has made it a goal to drop a Seinfeld reference into every Mo News podcast.

What happened inside Air Force One as America came under attack—and inside the Situation Room a decade later as the U.S. closed in on Osama bin Laden?

As we mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell gives us hisfirsthand account of both defining moments and everything in between. Morell was President George W. Bush’s intelligence briefer on September 11th and later helped President Obama assess whether bin Laden was really hiding in Pakistan before the raid that killed him.

Morell recounts what Bush was asking as Air Force One moved between secure locations, how he identified al-Qaeda as the likely perpetrator and why bin Laden was able to escape from Afghanistan. He also takes us inside the deliberations over the Abbottabad raid—including the warning he gave Obama about how uncertain the intelligence remained.The conversation examines the failures that preceded 9/11 and what the Clinton and Bush administrations could have done differently. Morell also addresses conspiracy theories about that day, why bin Laden would view himself as partly successful given the state of the world 25 years later, how 9/11 should be taught to a new generation, and the biggest threat facing the country today.

The Lindsay Clancy trial has sparked a national conversation about postpartum psychosis and maternal mental health. In this episode, Mo News Producer Sari Soffer sits down with Dr. Noa Sterling, an OB-GYN and mental health expert, for a broader conversation about the Clancy trial, postpartum mental illness, and why many women fall through the cracks in the existing medical system.

The conversation covers the differences between intrusive thoughts, postpartum depression, anxiety, and psychosis; risk factors like sleep deprivation and bipolar disorder; and the challenges of diagnosing and treating serious postpartum mental health conditions. They examine the systemic barriers for new mothers including a fragmented health system, lack of sustained support, and the burden to coordinate their own care during a time of intense struggle. They also discuss what better postpartum care could look like.

Dr. Noa Sterling is also the creator of a paid app called Obi, which helps women through pregnancy and postpartum. She has made the following resources available free for the Mo News audience:

- Mental Health Support Guide: Everything You Need to Know: https://www.obipregnancyapp.com/your-mental-health-support-guide-start-here/

- A Letter to the Partner of Someone Struggling With Their Mental Health Postpartum: https://www.obipregnancyapp.com/to-the-partner-of-someone-struggling-with-postpartum-mental-health/

If anything in this conversation resonated with you or someone you love, Postpartum Support International's HelpLine is ⁠1-800-944-4773⁠, call or text, and 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Many of us have felt stuck professionally, like we’ve lost our spark, or are too old to follow our dreams. Entrepreneur David Thurston's new memoir, The Spiral Staircase: Why I Stepped Off a Rocket Ship to Build a Cathedral, is filled with insight and advice to help you get back on track.

Jill sat down with Thurston, where he provided lessons from his own career journey. Thurston built a hair color brand called Pulp Riot from scratch, scaled it globally, and sold it to L’Oréal for nearly $100 million, all in under two years. But then, at the peak of success, he walked away, took a year off, and asked himself: What kind of company, and what kind of life, do I really want to build?

Four years later, David and Alexis bootstrapped a new hair color brand, Danger Jones, which is taking on the industry’s largest color houses by focusing on the professional artist community rather than traditional corporate marketing.

The conservation is an honest look at what it takes to create something new, take on the biggest players in the industry, and create “work-life fusion” – not necessarily “work-life balance.” And why all the money in the world doesn't buy happiness. 

Jill Wagner (⁠⁠⁠@jillrwagner⁠⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. She's the Managing Editor of Mo News. Jill previously worked as a correspondent for CBS News, Cheddar News, and News 12. She also co-founded the Need2Know newsletter, and has made it a goal to drop a Seinfeld reference into every Mo News podcast.

Americans consistently say they want less division in Washington. But our political system often rewards confrontation over cooperation.

In this episode, Mosheh sits down with Brad Porteus, founder of ⁠Bridge Grades⁠, a new effort to change those incentives. Instead of rating politicians based just on ideology, Bridge Grades scores every member of Congress on how well they collaborate across party lines—looking at bipartisan legislation, public rhetoric, and relationships with colleagues from the other side.

They discuss why so many lawmakers believe working together can actually hurt their political careers, whether voters can help change those incentives, and why collaboration doesn't have to mean compromising your principles. They also explore surprising findings from the data—including conservatives and progressives who earn top marks—and whether a new way of evaluating elected officials could lead to a healthier Congress over time.

Mosheh Oinounou (⁠⁠⁠@mosheh⁠⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

A growing bipartisan movement wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to take back control of the amount of money in American politics.

In this episode, Mosheh sits down with Jeff Clements, CEO of ⁠American Promise⁠, to unpack how Supreme Court decisions like Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United transformed campaign finance, helping usher in an era of $20 billion election cycles, super PACs, and dark money.

They explore why the U.S. has become such an outlier among democracies when it comes to campaign spending, why Congress has repeatedly failed to change the system, and how the courts—not lawmakers—have largely dictated the rules for the past 50 years.

Clements explains why his organization is pursuing a constitutional amendment instead of another campaign finance law, how 25 states have already backed the effort, and why he believes the movement is gaining momentum. They also debate whether money should be considered protected speech under the First Amendment—and what could change if Americans, rather than the courts, once again had the power to set the rules governing money in elections.

Mosheh Oinounou (⁠⁠@mosheh⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

Resilience is often talked about as a personality trait—something you either have or you don't. But according to Dr. Tara Narula, resilience is more like a muscle: it can be built, strengthened, and may have a profound impact on our health.

Mosheh sits down with Dr. Tara Narula, Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News, practicing cardiologist, and author of the new book ⁠⁠The Healing Power of Resilience⁠⁠.

Drawing from both her medical expertise and her own experience navigating a serious health scare during medical school, Dr. Narula explains the science behind resilience and why it is deeply connected to physical health, heart health, and longevity.

The conversation explores stress, loneliness, relationships, religion, uncertainty, and the habits that help people recover from life's inevitable challenges. Tara also shares why she believes roughly 80% of cardiovascular disease may be preventable, what chronic stress is doing to our bodies, and the practical steps people can take today to become healthier, more resilient, and better equipped for whatever comes next.

Mosheh Oinounou (⁠⁠⁠⁠@mosheh⁠⁠⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

The biggest sporting event on the planet is underway, with more than five billion people expected to follow the World Cup over the next month. But for many Americans, the World Cup is still something new: dozens of teams, unfamiliar players, and traditions that can seem foreign to casual fans.That's why we called Roger Bennett.

Roger, founder and host of the Men in Blazers podcast and media network, has spent decades helping Americans understand and fall in love with soccer. His new book, We Are The World (Cup), traces the history of the tournament and the moments that made it the most-watched event on Earth.

In this conversation, Roger breaks down everything casual fans need to know: the teams to watch, the stars who could define the tournament, the favorites and dark horses, Team USA's chances, and the biggest storylines on and off the field.We also discuss how soccer went from an afterthought in America to one of the country's fastest-growing sports, what this World Cup says about the United States at this moment in time, and why the tournament remains one of the few events capable of bringing the entire world together.

Whether you're a lifelong soccer fan or watching your first match, this is your World Cup primer.