CNN political correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Van Jones (THE GREEN COLLAR ECONOMY, REBUILD THE DREAM) is in the house! Just in time, too, to get our stinking thinking turned around before next month's Thanksgiving feasts (because didn’t we have enough food fights post-election last year to give us indigestion 'til 2050?).
Van’s new book, BEYOND THE MESSY TRUTH: How We Came Apart, How We Come Together (Ballantine), soothes the ache. Reading it brings instant relief. Points our way back to love. If you’re sick of crazy, if you’ve had ENOUGH, this is the episode for you!
I’m elated to share this conversation with #1 New York Times bestselling author Glennon Doyle (LOVE WARRIOR), who is back as our guest host. She and I are longtime fans of this environmental and human rights hero, but even more so now, having spent nearly an hour and a half with him. And boy do we talk writing—including rejection, how hard it can be, and tools to help you get it DONE.
You probably know Van as the level-headed TV personality with dear friends on both sides of the political aisle. But the quiet child who grew up in the south going to church and loving school would grow to be agitated. It was at Yale Law School where Van became hip to just how not free America can be. Being arrested at a peace rally and watching the Rodney King beating go unpunished were just a few of the reality checks that lit a fire in Van to become a fighter against injustice. And at times, a loud-mouthed revolutionary. A self-described bomb thrower turned bridge builder.
Van was Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation at the White House under Obama and despite relentless attacks from conservative media, he had a major impact. He’s such a big thinker and so effective that many people hope he'll run for president. But we’re not going to go there today because he’s focused on serving in other ways. Like writing. This new book, BEYOND THE MESSY TRUTH, is the map to get us back. Jolt us out of the bi-polar, divisive, arrogant insanity we now find ourselves. Calm the crazy in us all. Deep breath. I feel better already.
Thank you for listening. I am humbled and honored to be in conversation with these two love warriors.
Welcome.
Next up, I interview Tom Hanks about his upcoming book of short stories, UNCOMMON TYPE: Some Stories. The incomparable White Hot Truth author, Danielle LaPorte, will guest-host. Subscribe here so you're the first to know when it posts.
For more info, go to: www.beautifulwriterspodcast.com.