Next Question with Katie Couric

Brené Brown and Adam Grant have devoted much of their work to helping people better understand conflict, communication, and human behavior. Nevertheless, the two spent years estranged after a 2016 article Grant wrote led to a falling out between them. Now, they’ve reunited for a new podcast, The Curiosity Shop, where they explore complicated and often polarizing questions with humility, nuance, and a willingness to challenge each other in real time. Katie talks with them about repairing their relationship, why so many people struggle to have honest conversations, the impact of social media and outrage culture, and what it takes to stay open-minded in an increasingly divided world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Jodi Kantor knows a thing or two about getting to the heart of the matter and in her new book, How to Start: Discovering Your Life’s Work, she's giving advice on how to approach this daunting, AI-driven economy. But Jodi's a multi-hyphenate, so Katie also gets her thoughts on the “post-MeToo” era and her new beat at the New York Times covering the Supreme Court. Luckily she has wisdom (and hope!) for us, on all fronts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Once a loyal Republican who celebrated Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, George Conway is now one of this administration’s most outspoken critics and a Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 12th District. In this candid, wide-ranging conversation, he sits down with Katie to discuss what motivated him to run for office and why this moment requires more than commentary and criticism. He traces the early days of the first Trump administration, when he began to see something he could no longer ignore, and how that realization reshaped not just his politics, but his personal life, including his high-profile marriage to political consultant Kellyanne Conway. Along the way, he examines why so many Americans remain loyal to Trump, drawing on psychology, identity, and what he calls a growing “permission structure” for division and resentment. Ultimately, he sees this as a moment that demands engagement, not passivity, and one that will help define the future of American democracy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some losses divide a life into before and after. In this conversation, writer and journalist Danielle Crittenden sits down with Katie to discuss her new memoir, Dispatches from Grief: A Mother’s Journey Through the Unthinkable, which chronicles the days and months following the sudden death of her 32-year-old daughter, Miranda, in February 2024. Crittenden reflects on the physical reality of grief, the maddening bureaucracy that follows death, and the difficulty finding professional support, even with significant resources. She also opens up about navigating loss alongside her husband, journalist David Frum, the challenge of continuing to parent her two other children while managing her grief, and the unexpected community of bereaved parents she never wanted to join but has come to cherish. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Judy Faulkner runs a company whose software touches nearly every American's medical records. Katie traveled to Epic's sprawling, whimsical campus in Verona, Wisconsin to sit down with Judy Faulkner, the 82-year-old founder and CEO who's been at the helm for nearly 50 years. Judy talks about the living-room moment she cracked the code for electronic health records, why being one of three women in a room of 200 men turned out to be a competitive advantage, and how Epic's AI tools are quietly transforming what happens in the exam room. Katie also presses her on the hard stuff: the monopoly accusations, the non-compete clauses, the antitrust suits, and why Judy has pledged to give 99% of her wealth away while some of America's biggest tech billionaires have given far less. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.