Ep. 83: Telling the Stories of Others with Jamie Gangel- Former Editor, News Reporter & Current CNN Special Correspondent

Jamie Gangel is a television news reporter and is currently a CNN Special Correspondent. She previously worked as an editor for WJLA-TV and as a national correspondent for NBC News, appearing on the Today Show, MSNBC, Dateline NBC and the NBC Nightly News. Jamie has interviewed seven Presidents and has reported on countless world events over the span of her amazing career, and continues to do so. Jamie is also married to NYT Bestselling author, Daniel Silva, and are the parents of twins, Lilly and Nick.

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Show Notes

[2:42] Danny is an introvert. There is a reason he's a writer. He likes to sit in his office all alone. He writes a book a year. He really doesn't like to do book tours. He doesn't like to go out in public. But there was one person that you and I both know who could get him to go in public, and her name was Barbara Bush.
[3:31] And I just want to take a moment because your parents exemplify so much in so many ways. But what they did after the White House, and Danny I believe for the first time when he spoke that night announced that your parents, since they had left the White House, had helped to raise more than one billion, that's with a B, dollars for charity like literacy and cancer.
[4:54] But the fact that he was at home really let me go out, and I never had to worry about getting on a plane or doing a story because he was here.
[5:13] I was very lucky to have a boss, Jeff Zucker, who had a lot of women and working mothers working for him. And along the way, I said to him, at one point when Lily and Nick were in high school, I said, "I'd really like to have some time off in the summers. I'm not going to have them much longer." And he made that work.
[5:42] I give him tremendous credit because as the executive producer then of The Today Show, he really recognized and appreciated the need to be able to balance. And he knew how difficult it was to balance.
[8:06] And he [Danny] got up in secret at five o'clock in the morning and wrote before he went to work. And he didn't tell anyone he was writing a book until it was all done and a publisher. It went to auction between three publishers, and his first book became a New York Times best seller.
[8:49] When I was graduating from college, you went right on to graduate school and you sort of didn't take a breath. I think graduate schools now encourage students to stop, and I think that's healthy.
[9:16] I couldn't get a job up on the Hill because I couldn't type. And a friend of mine said, you know, you like to talk. You like to ask questions. I think maybe you would like journalism. And I started out answering the phones at WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C., which is the all news radio station. I want to say this from the start: I did not know what I was doing. I really learned on the job. But the person who gave me the advice to try it was very wise. It was a good fit. I often say I can't believe someone pays me to talk for a living. It really was a perfect fit.
[10:23] It was a completely different pace. You had some time to think about what you were going to say and absorb it. Now, it is not only nonstop with cable news, but as you said, Tricia, because of social media, what happened fifteen seconds ago? Not what happened fifteen minutes ago.
[10:55] But I also think that it's very important for our primetime shows to sort of take stock of the day. Because all day long we're running, running, running, running. And then it's important to give some perspective in the evening to that.
[11:53] And so I think there will be some social media. I don't think it's going away, although some days I would like it to go away. It can be really mean and very destructive. And I do worry not just about kids growing up with this kind of social media, but everybody feeling free to say things that they would never say to your face.
[14:29] And the first time I really did a long interview with your dad was after he left the White House. He gave me his very first interview after he left office and he said, "Come up to Maine." And there was a condition. He said, "You can spend three days with me." Can you imagine three days? What was he thinking? And he said, but here's the deal. You have to do whatever I do and you can interview me as we do those things. I mean, I knew that your dad loved sports and was an action figure, but by two o'clock the first day, I think we had already done five sports, golf, running, swimming, fishing. And it was in the rain.
[16:30] And I really admire how they both were just very comfortable in their own skin.
[17:11] I think more than any individual, Tricia, maybe the answer is that the best thing about my job has been that I learn every day, because it's different.
[17:30] But I think the people that I've really enjoyed interviewing the most are people whose names you would not recognize. They are ordinary people who, as we say, do extraordinary things. There is a fifth grade teacher, public school teacher in Los Angeles who in effect taught all of his kids Shakespeare, made sure they all got into college, followed them their whole lives. People like that who are changing the world, but also, I felt honored to meet them. And hopefully by sharing their lives and stories, it would inspire other people to do things that really are amazing.
[18:31] And Doro, I'm going to quote your mom and I think you'll know which quote it is, but it just always stays with me. I believe she gave it to commencement and she said, "At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal," I'm getting a little emotional. "You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent." I can't think of anything better.
[19:37] But I do think making sure that you read as well as watch a breath of material different viewpoints is very important.
[20:09] I don't think social media should be the enemy because it does lead to information.
[20:16] Any reporter will tell you, Tricia, we want to get the story first. It is true, we're competitive, but the most important thing is to get it right.
[21:11] I remember when I walked in to NBC the first time and there was a long hallway called Correspondent's Row, and there were, I think, three women and a lot of men.
[21:42] I think that because my mother was a judge, it never occurred to me that I couldn't or wouldn't be a professional and have a family.
[22:26] I try to laugh a lot. I try not to take myself too seriously. I think mental health, especially right now, is very important.
[23:27] But I do believe even though I've never been perfect at yoga, far from it I can't do all the twisting and everything, just taking that time to stretch I think it does help big picture.

Thank you for joining us on Health Gig. We loved having you with us. We hope you'll tune in again next week. In the meantime, be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast, and follow us on healthgigpod.com.

“When I was graduating from college, you went right on to graduate school and you sort of didn't take a breath. I think graduate schools now encourage students to stop, and I think that's healthy.” - Jamie Gangel
“I think the people that I've really enjoyed interviewing the most are people whose names you would not recognize. They are ordinary people who, as we say, do extraordinary things.” - Jamie Gangel
“Any reporter will tell you, we want to get the story first. It is true, we're competitive. But the most important thing is to get it right.” - Jamie Gangel

Keywords

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PodcastadminJune 17, 2020JamieGangel, CNN, TheTodayShow, NBC, News, Journalism, Reporting, SocialMedia, Yoga, Family, Interviews, DanielSilva, Newsroom, PresidentBush, BarbaraBush, Health, Wellness, HealthGig, Pandemic, COVID19, TriciaReillyKoch, DoroBushKoch, MentalHealth