White House Correspondents Insider

Veteran Democratic Political Operative Lis Smith is making headlines today as POLITICO releases an excerpt from her new memoir, “Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story.“

She told her friends in a book email, “I was determined to demystify politics and serve as a guide to modern-day campaigning. If we do not bring more people into politics, Democracy could fail. It’s a book for Democrats and Republicans, political junkies and the apolitical- one that’s as fun as it is informative, and as irreverent as it is serious. “

Smith connoted, “I have shared these campaigns and crises with many of you but I think you will learn some things that you did not know. I did! I don’t spare any details or dish from behind the scenes, even about myself.“

All rise! White House Historical Association President Stewart D. McLaurin hosted a lunch for Tony award-winning director of To Kill a Mockingbird (playing at Kennedy Center until July 10) Bartlett Sher and his producer Cambra Overend at Decatur House on Wednesday. 

Sher also discussed the development of his new Broadway production of Camelot (debuting November 3rd) with Aaron Sorkin, his partner for To Kill a Mockingbird.

Sher and his producing partner Overend were last in Washington to screen the HBO Films version of their Broadway play, Oslo, which captured the story behind the historic 1993 South Lawn “Oslo handshake” between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, orchestrated by President Bill Clinton.

SPOTTED: Ambassador Rufus Gifford, opera singer Denyce Graves, Anita McBride, journalists Robert Costa, Abby Phillip, and Elisabeth Bumiller, and Sheila Burke, Patricia Harrison, Colleen Shogan, Karen Knutson, Senay Bulbul, Peggy Grande, Royce Dickerson and Tammy Haddad

Stewart D. McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association (WHHA), launched a new monthly column with USA Today aimed at educating readers about White House history and its impact on Americans’ lives. USA Today named McLaurin to its Board of Contributors. 

“The White House stands as a symbol of freedom and democracy to billions of people around the world,” said McLaurin, “and this new column aims to inspire Americans and others across the globe to learn more about the rich history of the White House and its residents.”

First up: some clever insight and beautiful photos showing that when it comes to weddings, presidents and their families aren’t exactly like the rest of us. McLaurin addresses White House family weddings and receptions – and how presidential families throughout American history have balanced the intimacy of a family ceremony with the demands of living their lives in the public spotlight.

McLaurin points out that more than a dozen family weddings have been held at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Tricia Nixon was the first to have an outdoor wedding in the Rose Garden back in June 1971. President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will celebrate the wedding of their granddaughter at the White House this November.

“It’s hard to imagine any future White House family wedding being anything other than a national event,” McLaurin writes. “But it’s important to remember that at the center of each American presidency is a family, trying to fashion a life and find private moments on one of the world’s biggest stages.” 

Future USA Today columns will explore and connect White House history to current events and timeless themes in American life today.

The Washington Women Technology Network gathered some of the most powerful women in media, politics, and tech this morning at the Jefferson Hotel in D.C. to celebrate the success of MSNBC anchor Katy Tur’s new bestselling memoir, Rough Draft. 

Jessica Nigro, Global Head of Public Policy at Lucid Motors, and Tammy Haddad, CEO of Haddad Media, joined forces to co-host the powerhouse breakfast and intimate conversation with the New York Times bestselling author.

Following welcome remarks from Jessica Nigro, Tur recounted some of the highs and lows highlighted in her memoir, including her 510 days on the road covering Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, as well as the hard challenges she faced in her personal life and the hopes and aspirations she held for the future.

In a deeply raw and personal way, Tur also opened up about her parents – legendary news journalists in their own right – and what it was like growing up exposed to their rocky marriage and often abusive relationship. Her father was a news helicopter pilot and journalist in Los Angeles, and her mother, the cameraman. Tur, who often took flight chasing news with her parents, writes, “I felt more comfortable [in the helicopter] than I felt in my own bed.”

The breakfast ended with guests asking the author questions, some serious, and some fun, such as:

“So was there a car-seat in the helicopter?”

“Of course…our dog was there too,” was Katy’s easy reply. 

View photos from the WWTN event here. To order a copy of Rough Draft, click here.

SPOTTED:  Katy Tur, Jessica Nigro, Tammy Haddad, Peggy Collins, Liz Hart, Alexa Verveer, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Heather Podesta, Amira Aly, Kris Coratti, Veronica Deleon, Susan Fox, Kimberley Fritts, Juleanna Glover, Anne Marie Lewis, Nat Lingo, Julissa Marenco, Kelley McCormick, Susan Page, Rachel Pearson, Elizabeth Ralph

Washington, DC – Today, leaders from the Smithsonian Institution and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino previewed the Molina Family Latino Gallery with its first exhibition, “¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States.” 

The Molina Family Latino Gallery, which is located within the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, opens to the public on Saturday, June 18. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino was chartered by Congress on December 27, 2020, and the gallery marks the first physical presence of the National Museum of the American Latino, offering exhibitions and programs leading up to the opening of the museum’s building. 

“¡Buenos días! ¡Bienvenido! Thank you for coming to the Molina Family Latino Gallery, welcomed Julissa Marenco, Assistant Secretary for Communications and External Affairs and CMO for the Smithsonian Institution. “Today is a special and historic day for the Smithsonian and for American Latinos.”

“Today we celebrate this gallery, and soon we will experience an entire museum,” said Jorge Zamanillo, founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino. “As I’ve said before, the Latino experience is American history, and this important initiative ensures our rich Latino history will be preserved for future generations.”

The gallery’s creation and design was led by Eduardo Díaz, acting deputy director of the National Museum of the American Latino. At the preview, Díaz said, “History is backward looking, but we are on the forefront of sharing our rich tapestry, and the American Latino community is going to go so much further.”

Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History where the gallery is located, remarked, “Our museum tells the story of our nation, empowering people to create a just and compassionate future by exploring, preserving, and sharing the complexity of our past. And today, we welcome a new and necessary chapter to that story with the history of American Latinos.”

The five children of the late Dr. C. David and Mrs. Mary Molina collectively donated $10 million to support this gallery to honor their parents’ legacy of giving back to the community. Dr. Molina was a healthcare leader in California who founded the publicly traded Fortune 500 company Molina Healthcare. 

“When I saw my father’s stethoscope, I choked up,” said John Molina, philanthropist and one of the Molina children, who saw the gallery for the first time today. “When he started out, he literally took care of people in our kitchen sink.” He continued, “We are proud to support this gallery and the new museum, and you will always have the support of the Molina family.”

According to the Smithsonian, “The 4,500-square-foot gallery…will present bilingual stories for multigenerational and cross-cultural audiences featuring multimedia, physical objects, and first-person voices.” The gallery is also one of the most accessible and inclusive of its kind, featuring exhibitions in English and Spanish, including 13 unique QR codes and cane-detectable edges and protrusions to access text in audio format. For more information, visit latino.si.edu.

Kara Swisher, prominent tech reporter, commentator, and co-founder of Re-Code, is leaving her role as columnist and podcaster at the New York Times to return to Vox Media. Swisher will be bringing her Executive Producer of two years with her, Nayeema Raza, previously the showrunner of her New York Times podcast, “Sway.” 

Swisher will host a new interview show at the Vox Media Podcast Network that will exist as a companion to “Pivot,” the business and technology podcast she’s co-hosted with New York University professor Scott Galloway for nearly four years. The official program was introduced at Vox Media’s upfront event Vox Media Now on June 9, and the show will launch in the fall.  

Swisher has a long history with Vox Media. Initially, she and her business partner Walt Mossberg sold their original technology website and business, Recode, to Vox Media in 2015. With this agreement, Vox also acquired the rights to the brands podcasts, like Swisher’s show Recode Decode.

Swisher then left that show in 2020 to join the Times as a podcaster, with Vox Media later rebranding the program to “Decoder.” However, Swisher never completely cut ties with Vox Media, continuing to host “Pivot” on the side in addition to her Times work.

Her new show, she said in an interview with Bloomberg, will be more topical and sassy, similar to “Pivot.” The final episode of Swisher’s New York Times Pocast “Sway” will air in July. 

About Nayeema:

Nayeema Raza is a producer based in New York City. She is currently the showrunner of The New York Times podcast about power Sway hosted by Kara Swisher. Raza’s career began as a consultant at Monitor Group, where she worked on issues of international development and policy. After five years, she returned to school and received a joint Master’s from Harvard and Stanford University. At Stanford, she connected with her professor, documentary filmmaker Bill Guttentag. Together, Raza and Guttentag founded the production house 1891 Productions. Their projects include Sublime, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and the CBS All Access documentary series That Animal Rescue Show, which they executive produced alongside Richard Linklater.

Kathleen Buhle created a new women’s non-profit social club, The House at 1229, and hosted her first event, on Thursday, May 26th. The intimate gathering brought together a diverse group of women from the non-profit world, business and media for a conversation featuring Dr. Sharon Malone and Michele Norris on women’s health after menopause. 

The House at 1229 was founded by Kathleen Buhle as a community of women with different backgrounds and experiences who share the same core beliefs. It’s a civic and social organization, bringing women together to network, foster meaningful connections, and share insight and advice. The headquarters of The House is at 1229 19th Street in downtown DC and will open in September 2022.

This sneak preview event was moderated by Michele Norris in conversation with Dr. Sharon Malone, one of the nation’s leading Obstetrician and Gynocologists, who has dedicated her practice to focusing on the specific health challenges associated with menopause. 

Michele Norris is a columnist for The Washington Post Opinions section and founding director of The Race Card Project. Guests included co-founder Satchiko Kuno, Margarita Raygada, Carol Melton, Meg Cleric, Vickie Jordan Adams, Alison Schulman and Kate Goodall.