Firestarters with Shannon Watts

Shannon Watts
  • 4.8 (24)
  • Personal Journals

Firestarters is a podcast filled with inspiring interviews of women living audacious lives and encouraging others to do the same. shannonwatts.substack.com shannonwatts.substack.com

  1. 6h ago

    Preparing kids for a high tech world by giving them a low tech childhood with Dr. Dana Suskind

    Dr. Dana Suskind is the Founder and Co-Director of the TMW Center for Early Learning and Public Health, and the Founding Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program. She has dedicated her research and clinical work to optimizing foundational brain development, with an emphasis on helping parents and caregivers understand their power as brain architects. Her new book, Human Raised: Nurturing Connection, Curiosity and Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI, explores how families can stay grounded in human connection as AI becomes part of how kids learn, socialize, and think. In this conversation, we went beyond the usual questions about screen time and app safety to ask what we risk losing if we outsource too much of childhood to systems built for optimization rather than connection. We talked about how the way children are raised today intersects with the future of democracy, misinformation, and civic life, and why it matters that many of the people building these technologies keep their own kids away from them. We also talked honestly about how parents can hold the tension between preparing their children for a high tech future and protecting a meaningful, deeply human childhood, without falling into fear or fatalism. Connect with Dr. Dana: Website | Instagram | Substack | Buy the Book If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Aug 3

    Beyond the Prescription with Dr. Lucy McBride

    Dr. Lucy McBride is a primary care physician and co-founder of the Ackerly McBride Group in Washington, DC. For over 25 years, she has practiced evidence-based, relationship-centered medicine. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard Medical School, with a master's degree in Pharmacology from Cambridge as a Fulbright Scholar, she completed her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She writes the weekly newsletter Are You Okay? and hosts the podcast Beyond the Prescription. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and USA Today. She has contributed to CNN, MSNBC, and PBS, advocating for a holistic, patient-centered approach to health. Her upcoming book Beyond the Prescription will be released August 11, 2026. In this conversation, we discussed how health isn’t just about getting answers but about asking the right questions, what primary care physicians are doing for their patients in an ideal world vs. what is actually happening, why doctors should treat the whole patient and not just a set of symptoms, and her upcoming book Beyond the Prescription which includes a 5 step process for taking charge of your health. Connect with Lucy: Instagram | Website | Substack | Buy the Book If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jul 31

    The one thing every great speaker does (and no one teaches) with Samara Bay

    Samara Bay has spent the last two decades helping leaders across culture with their public speaking and finding the words to bring rooms to life. Samara is also the author of the #1 bestselling business book, Permission to Speak. Her TEDx Talk The One Thing Every Great Speaker Does (And No One Teaches) is an Editor's Pick—a distinction given to fewer than .1% of talks. In this conversation, we discussed how your whole body is involved in the process of public speaking, why people are afraid to speak up (and what trust has to do with it), how to speak from a place of love instead of fear, and her number one tip for overcoming jitters before speaking on any stage big or small. Connect with Samara: Substack | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Buy the book | Watch the TEDx Talk If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 9

    Emily Amick on why civic engagement is the antidote to your doom spiral

    Emily Amick is a lawyer, journalist, and political analyst who served as counsel to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. She created @EmilyinYourPhone to give people her insider insight into the political process and help them find ways they can take action. Her first book DEMOCRACY IN RETROGRADE: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives was an instant New York Times bestseller. In this conversation, we discussed how reclaiming our place in democracy helps alleviate the doom spiral, how civic engagement can bring us together in community again, how we can begin to address the extremism in politics and the media, how to demystify the political system and help women overcome imposter syndrome, and what the antidote to modern loneliness is. Connect with Emily: Instagram | Website | Substack If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Jul 8

    Women and the future of the Democratic party with Jessica Mackler of EMILYs List

    Jessica Mackler is the president of EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, working to elect Democratic pro-choice women at every level of the ballot. She is a veteran political strategist known for her political smarts and sheer grit, and a dedication to doing whatever it takes to get the win. She has spent more than two decades in Democratic politics. In this conversation, we discussed why it’s essential that the Democratic Party supports women candidates, Jessica’s experience as a Democrat, a woman, and as someone who runs an amazing organization that helps women run for office, why we can’t overlook problematic behavior from Democratic candidates, and how there’s a double standard for men and women in politics. Connect with Jessica: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Website If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 3

    Amber Goodwin on why she’s running for City Council in Austin after a career in activism and law

    Amber Goodwin is a lawyer, organizer, and public safety advocate who has spent her career working with communities and fighting for safety, health, and opportunity. She currently serves as an Assistant District Attorney in Travis County, where she is fighting the good fight against gun violence. She is running for Austin City Council because this moment demands leadership that listens, organizes, and delivers. In this conversation, we discussed how the 2015 shooting in Charleston inspired her fight against gun violence, how you can accomplish big things with small groups of people, why she decided to run for Austin City Council, and how affordability is a big issue for her constituents and how it goes hand-in-hand with violence prevention. Connect with Amber: Instagram | Website | Donate If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 2

    Ann Warner on building a movement to reclaim the rights of women and girls

    Ann Warner has spent more than two decades advocating for the rights of women, girls and gender-expansive people around the world. Today, she serves as Executive Director of the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity (CGRE), a growing community of donors and foundations uniting to advance gender, reproductive, and racial equity. Ann joined CGRE to grow its network of funder partners and grantee partners to build a movement of collective power that creates durable, lasting change. She also served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN), which is now one of the leading gender and justice advocacy organizations in the Southern United States. In this conversation, we discussed how building collective power comes from working in partnership with incredible people, her goal to create the conditions for women and girls to be able to thrive, how abortion bans are interfering with the ability of women and people to determine what is best for them and their families, the coordinated political attack on transgender people, and how we can’t stand by idly and assume that the rights we have now are permanent. Connect with Ann: LinkedIn | Website If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Jun 29

    Reshma Saujani on a growing national movement to reunite moms across divisions

    Reshma Saujani, is a leading activist, an author, the founder of Girls Who Code, the founder and CEO of Moms First, host of My So-Called Midlife podcast, and executive producer of the new documentary No Country for Mothers. Named one of TIME’s Women of the Year in 2026, Reshma has spent more than a decade building movements to fight for women and girls’ empowerment. In this conversation we discuss No Country for Mothers, which argues that American motherhood has been deliberately designed to divide and distract women through false culture-war choices like “trad wife vs. girl boss.” We also talk about how childcare was once a bipartisan policy, how New York City’s universal childcare can be a model for what’s possible, and making childcare and paid leave defining voter issues in the midterms. Connect with Reshma: Website | Instagram | Substack | Documentary If you’re looking to unleash your potential, find your personal, professional, or political fire, and to connect with a community who is doing the same, click here to learn more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shannonwatts.substack.com/subscribe

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4.8
out of 5
24 Ratings

About

Firestarters is a podcast filled with inspiring interviews of women living audacious lives and encouraging others to do the same. shannonwatts.substack.com shannonwatts.substack.com

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