The Political Life

In today's episode, Maggie Mick welcomes Julian Ha, Global Head and Partner at Heidrick & Struggles, to pull back the curtain on corporate recruitment. Heidrick & Struggles is a global executive search and leadership consulting firm. Julian leads the Government & Corporate Affairs Practice in Washington, D.C. and places talent across corporations, national associations, and large non-profits. The two discuss Julian's professional path to recruitment and how this category of executive roles, particularly state government affairs, has evolved in corporate America over the last 15 years. 

In today's episode, Maggie Mick hosts Steve Glickman, CEO of Statt. Steve's noteworthy career has spanned multiple political eras and professional roles including stints at the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House. The two discuss the evolution of his professional life as well as the advent and future of AI in government, government affairs and public affairs which has only accelerated since 2020 when he co-founded Statt. Statt is AI‑powered SaaS platform that aggregates and analyzes legislative, regulatory, and geopolitical data to produce briefs, reports, and strategy documents for clients.

As we near the 2026 Midterm elections, Maggie Mick hosts Katie Harbath of Anchor Change. Katie is a longtime political strategist and technology-policy expert who spent 10 years at Facebook, ultimately serving as Public Policy Director for Global Elections. She helped build Facebook's elections operation essentially from the ground up and was deeply involved in how the company approached elections, political actors, civic engagement and election integrity around the world. She left in March 2021. Today, she's a frequent speaker and writer on the intersection of technology and politics. Her memoir Disrupting Politics will be released on October 6. 

This week, Maggie Mick hosts Joe Vidulich. After a decade at Capital One, Joe recently walked across the street in McLean, Virginia to build a new government affairs operation at Appian. They discuss how Joe reached the decision to make a big mid-career move and how AI is impacting not only his company but also the government and public affairs profession. 

On today's special July 4th episode, Maggie Mick hosts Michael O'Brien - executive coach, cyclist and host of a new podcast, A Perfectly Imperfect Union. They discuss his new project, the podcast's origin story, and its aim. In each podcast, Michael sits down with a real American from every state in our union, plus Washington, D.C. to discuss what America means to them, where the current tension lives, and what they wish for as America celebrates our 250th birthday.