Mo News - The Interview

Many of us have felt stuck professionally, like we’ve lost our spark, or are too old to follow our dreams. Entrepreneur David Thurston's new memoir, The Spiral Staircase: Why I Stepped Off a Rocket Ship to Build a Cathedral, is filled with insight and advice to help you get back on track. Jill sat down with Thurston, where he provided lessons from his own career journey. Thurston built a hair color brand called Pulp Riot from scratch, scaled it globally, and sold it to L’Oréal for nearly $100 million, all in under two years. But then, at the peak of success, he walked away, took a year off, and asked himself: What kind of company, and what kind of life, do I really want to build? Four years later, David and Alexis bootstrapped a new hair color brand, Danger Jones, which is taking on the industry’s largest color houses by focusing on the professional artist community rather than traditional corporate marketing. The conservation is an honest look at what it takes to create something new, take on the biggest players in the industry, and create “work-life fusion” – not necessarily “work-life balance.” And why all the money in the world doesn't buy happiness.  Jill Wagner (⁠⁠⁠@jillrwagner⁠⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. She's the Managing Editor of Mo News. Jill previously worked as a correspondent for CBS News, Cheddar News, and News 12. She also co-founded the Need2Know newsletter, and has made it a goal to drop a Seinfeld reference into every Mo News podcast.

Americans consistently say they want less division in Washington. But our political system often rewards confrontation over cooperation. In this episode, Mosheh sits down with Brad Porteus, founder of ⁠Bridge Grades⁠, a new effort to change those incentives. Instead of rating politicians based just on ideology, Bridge Grades scores every member of Congress on how well they collaborate across party lines—looking at bipartisan legislation, public rhetoric, and relationships with colleagues from the other side. They discuss why so many lawmakers believe working together can actually hurt their political careers, whether voters can help change those incentives, and why collaboration doesn't have to mean compromising your principles. They also explore surprising findings from the data—including conservatives and progressives who earn top marks—and whether a new way of evaluating elected officials could lead to a healthier Congress over time. Mosheh Oinounou (⁠⁠⁠@mosheh⁠⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

A growing bipartisan movement wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to take back control of the amount of money in American politics. In this episode, Mosheh sits down with Jeff Clements, CEO of ⁠American Promise⁠, to unpack how Supreme Court decisions like Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United transformed campaign finance, helping usher in an era of $20 billion election cycles, super PACs, and dark money. They explore why the U.S. has become such an outlier among democracies when it comes to campaign spending, why Congress has repeatedly failed to change the system, and how the courts—not lawmakers—have largely dictated the rules for the past 50 years. Clements explains why his organization is pursuing a constitutional amendment instead of another campaign finance law, how 25 states have already backed the effort, and why he believes the movement is gaining momentum. They also debate whether money should be considered protected speech under the First Amendment—and what could change if Americans, rather than the courts, once again had the power to set the rules governing money in elections. Mosheh Oinounou (⁠⁠@mosheh⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

Resilience is often talked about as a personality trait—something you either have or you don't. But according to Dr. Tara Narula, resilience is more like a muscle: it can be built, strengthened, and may have a profound impact on our health. Mosheh sits down with Dr. Tara Narula, Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News, practicing cardiologist, and author of the new book ⁠⁠The Healing Power of Resilience⁠⁠. Drawing from both her medical expertise and her own experience navigating a serious health scare during medical school, Dr. Narula explains the science behind resilience and why it is deeply connected to physical health, heart health, and longevity. The conversation explores stress, loneliness, relationships, religion, uncertainty, and the habits that help people recover from life's inevitable challenges. Tara also shares why she believes roughly 80% of cardiovascular disease may be preventable, what chronic stress is doing to our bodies, and the practical steps people can take today to become healthier, more resilient, and better equipped for whatever comes next. Mosheh Oinounou (⁠⁠⁠⁠@mosheh⁠⁠⁠⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

The biggest sporting event on the planet is underway, with more than five billion people expected to follow the World Cup over the next month. But for many Americans, the World Cup is still something new: dozens of teams, unfamiliar players, and traditions that can seem foreign to casual fans.That's why we called Roger Bennett. Roger, founder and host of the Men in Blazers podcast and media network, has spent decades helping Americans understand and fall in love with soccer. His new book, We Are The World (Cup), traces the history of the tournament and the moments that made it the most-watched event on Earth. In this conversation, Roger breaks down everything casual fans need to know: the teams to watch, the stars who could define the tournament, the favorites and dark horses, Team USA's chances, and the biggest storylines on and off the field.We also discuss how soccer went from an afterthought in America to one of the country's fastest-growing sports, what this World Cup says about the United States at this moment in time, and why the tournament remains one of the few events capable of bringing the entire world together. Whether you're a lifelong soccer fan or watching your first match, this is your World Cup primer.