The Friday Reporter

Lisa Camooso Miller
  • 5.0 (36)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Friday Reporter was created to better understand the news process from a journalist's point of view. After nearly three years, the guest list has expanded to include newsmakers, policymakers and image makers. It's a show about public affairs and the contours of how business is done. Lisa Camooso Miller is the host and a D.C.-based public affairs professional who is asking the questions. thefridayreporter.substack.com

  1. She Built the CHIPS Program

    9H AGO

    She Built the CHIPS Program

    I’ve been wanting to have Kathryn Mitchell on The Friday Reporter for a while. She’s one of those people in Washington who has earned the right to have a real opinion about one of the most consequential policy debates of our time — and she’s generous enough to explain it in terms the rest of us can understand. Kathryn spent nearly a decade in government, moving from Capitol Hill to the Pentagon to the Department of Commerce, where she served as chief of staff for the CHIPS R&D office at NIST. She helped stand up the $50 billion CHIPS for America program — essentially from scratch. Earlier this year she moved to DLA Piper, where she now helps tech companies navigate the government landscape she used to sit inside. This conversation covers a lot of ground. We talked about the origin story of the Chips and Science Act — passed bipartisan under Biden, now being implemented differently under Trump — and what Kathryn is watching to gauge whether the U.S. is actually getting this right. (She says we won’t know for a decade or two. But she knows exactly what signals to track right now.) We also got into something I find genuinely fascinating: the role of relationship-building in Washington. Before you can change a policy, before you can land a government contract, before your innovation can make it out of the garage and into a lab — you build the relationships. That’s what Kathryn does every day for her clients, and she explains why it’s the foundation of everything else. A few things I’m still thinking about from this conversation: Her point that AI and semiconductors are “inexplicably tied” — but that AI won’t solve the physical-world challenges of building fabs, navigating permitting, or standing up domestic production. That nuance matters a lot right now. Her career advice: “Wear your honors lightly.” Don’t aim to be the smartest person in the room. Aim to be the one who keeps learning. I’m going to borrow that one. And her lightning round answer on Washington: “It is both a marathon and a sprint every day.” That about sums it up. This episode drops today — wherever you listen to podcasts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did recording it. — Lisa Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    28 min
  2. The Race Already Under Way

    MAY 1

    The Race Already Under Way

    The Axios Takeover of The Friday Reporter wraps with one of the sharpest eyes on Democratic politics in the business. Holly Otterbein covers the 2028 presidential race for Axios — and she’s here to tell us why the race is already underway, even if most people aren’t watching yet. In this conversation, Holly breaks down the fault lines fracturing the Democratic Party right now: it’s not just progressive versus moderate anymore. It’s generational, regional, ideological, and increasingly shaped by the Israel-Gaza divide. She explains why Kamala Harris is more of a 2028 factor than Washington insiders want to admit, why Gavin Newsom may be the only Democrat who truly understands the attention economy, and why the Maine Senate primary is a perfect case study in everything the party is wrestling with at once. Holly also goes deep on a story she wants to keep digging into: AI in campaigns. Democrats, she says, are behind — and the race to shape what chatbots say about candidates may be the new search engine optimization. Plus, the quiet pivot among 2028 hopefuls on AI data centers: yesterday’s economic win is becoming today’s political liability. And on the craft of political journalism itself — how do you stay independent when you’re embedded in the vortex of a campaign? Holly shares the advice that’s stuck with her since she started covering presidential races. Subscribe to Axios 2028 — Holly’s Sunday newsletter — by searching “Axios 2028,” and follow her on X at @HollyOtterbein. Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    27 min

  3. APR 24

    Everyone is Covering AI

    Madison Mills covers AI for Axios — but she came to the beat from Wall Street, and that changes everything about what she’s looking for. She spent years covering markets, interviewing Jamie Dimon and Ray Dalio, and building one of the most-read financial newsletters in the country. She knows how investors think, how they hedge, and how wide the gap is between what they say publicly and what they actually believe. That’s the lens she’s bringing to the AI story. And the picture it reveals is one most of the tech coverage is missing entirely. We talked about the hidden financial exposure in the AI buildout — the small-town bank loans to truckers and construction companies that don’t look like AI bets on paper, but absolutely are. We got into what Wall Street sources are telling her off the record right now about fraud risk, and why she describes those conversations as “a very scary picture.” And we dug into the trillion-dollar question she keeps putting to the AI labs themselves: when are you actually going to be profitable? We also ended up in a really honest conversation about the jobs debate — why she’s skeptical when public companies attribute layoffs to AI, what’s actually happening with entry-level hiring, and why some of the most enthusiastic AI adopters she’s encountering are the most senior people in the room. Madison is one of the smartest reporters working this beat. I think you’ll want to listen twice. Find Madison at Axios — she co-authors the AI Plus newsletter Monday through Thursday — and on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    22 min
  4. What the Iran War Reveals

    APR 17

    What the Iran War Reveals

    For years, the Pentagon promised drone dominance would change everything. Then Iran shot down an American fighter jet. Colin Demarest has been covering the future of defense at Axios long enough to know the gap between Pentagon strategy and battlefield reality. As the author of the Future of Defense newsletter, he’s been inside the Iran conflict coverage since the first strike — tracking new weapons systems in their first real-world test, watching war costs climb past $16 billion and rising. We get into whether drone dominance is actually delivering, what the U.S. dismissal of Ukraine’s anti-drone technology offer tells us about how Washington processes advice from allies who’ve been in the fight, and whether the defense industrial base can sustain a long war. The future of defense isn’t theoretical anymore. Part Three of the April Axios takeover of The Friday Reporter. Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    24 min
  5. Inside Pentagon's AI Blacklist War

    APR 10

    Inside Pentagon's AI Blacklist War

    The Pentagon just tried to blacklist an AI company from all government work. Not because its technology failed — because the company refused to let its AI run autonomous weapons or surveil Americans at scale. That’s not a contract dispute, it’s a new kind of power struggle. And it’s reshaping the entire AI industry. Maria Curi is the AI+Government reporter at Axios and the author of the newsletter that drives tech policy conversations across Washington. She breaks down how the Defense Department is using procurement as policy — and why the stakes extend far beyond one company’s government contract. We get into who actually controls AI governance in this administration, what the Pentagon-Anthropic standoff means for every AI lab now doing business with the federal government, and the question Maria says nobody is asking yet — but should be. It’s Week Two of the April Axios takeover of The Friday Reporter. Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    27 min
  6. Local News Still Matters.

    APR 3

    Local News Still Matters.

    Local news is disappearing. And the communities left behind aren’t just losing a newspaper — they’re losing accountability, connection and a shared sense of place. Holly Moore is helping change that. As Executive Editor of Axios Local, she’s leading one of the most ambitious efforts in journalism to fill the news deserts spreading across this country — and to remind audiences that what happens at city hall, in their school district and on their block still matters deeply. We talked about what’s been lost, why it’s so hard to get back and why Holly believes local journalism isn’t just worth saving — it’s worth rebuilding from scratch. This is a conversation I didn’t want to end. Axios Owns April. Again. — Episode 1 of 5 Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    29 min
  7. Where Leadership Actually Happens

    MAR 27

    Where Leadership Actually Happens

    There are some people who spend their careers chasing titles, and others who spend their careers building communities. Judy B Lloyd is firmly in the second category. This week on The Friday Reporter, I sat down with Judy, founder of Altamont Strategies and the host behind Purple Inspiration, where she highlights women and community leaders who are quietly doing the work that actually changes places, organizations and people’s lives. Our conversation wasn’t really about politics, and it wasn’t really about business either. It was about leadership — the real kind — the kind that happens where people are trying to make things better with limited resources and a lot of persistence. Judy has spent more than two decades working across government, public policy, business advocacy and community leadership. She has seen how decisions actually get made, how organizations succeed or fail and how much of leadership really comes down to showing up consistently over time. One of the things we talked about was how most people misunderstand leadership. They think leadership is loud or visible or tied to a title. But in reality, the most effective leaders are often the ones making sure progress keeps moving forward even when no one is watching. We also talked about why she started Purple Inspiration — to highlight women and community leaders who don’t always get recognized but are doing meaningful work every single day. It’s a reminder that leadership doesn’t just happen in Washington or in corporate boardrooms. It happens in the smallest corners — all across the country. There was a moment in our conversation where we talked about whether one person can actually change a community. Judy’s answer was thoughtful and honest — communities don’t change because of one person alone, but they often change because one person decides to start something and keep pushing when others give up. That idea stuck with me. In Washington and in public affairs, we spend a lot of time talking about power and influence at the highest levels. But the truth is, a lot of the most meaningful change in this country happens far away from Washington, driven by people who care deeply about where they live and who they serve. This was a conversation about leadership and the people who make things happen without needing a headline. I think you’ll enjoy this one. Listen to my conversation with Judy B. Lloyd here. Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    31 min
  8. Meet the Deciders

    MAR 20

    Meet the Deciders

    I’ve spent the last five years talking to journalists about how the story gets told. But there’s another layer—the people shaping what happens before it ever becomes a headline. This week on The Friday Reporter, I sat down with Brody Mullins and Dave Tobey to talk about a new show we just launched: The Deciders. It’s not a news show — It’s about how influence actually works right now—and who’s driving it. Because, the loudest voices aren’t always the ones making decisions. Most people are still looking in the wrong places — that’s the gap we’re trying to close. The Deciders is live. And we’re open for business — reach out. Get full access to Authentically Speaking at thefridayreporter.substack.com/subscribe

    26 min
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5
out of 5
36 Ratings

About

The Friday Reporter was created to better understand the news process from a journalist's point of view. After nearly three years, the guest list has expanded to include newsmakers, policymakers and image makers. It's a show about public affairs and the contours of how business is done. Lisa Camooso Miller is the host and a D.C.-based public affairs professional who is asking the questions. thefridayreporter.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Lisa Camooso Miller
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    230
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Lisa Camooso Miller
  • Show Website
    The Friday Reporter

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