Liberty + Leadership Podcast

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Desiree Koetzle on the Practice of Leadership

Desiree Koetzle is the chief of staff for U.S. Representative Pete Stauber of Minnesota, having perviously served as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Representative Erik Paulsen of Minnesota. Desiree spent six years in the private sector working as a federal affairs representative at Koch Industries and as a government relations analyst at Blank Rome Government Relations. Desiree received a bachelor's degree in communications from St. Cloud University and was a participant in the TFAS Business + Government Relations program in 2002. She was also a TFAS Public Policy Fellow in 2007. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Desiree discuss how TFAS helped launch her career, how lobbying unfairly gets a bad rap, the perils of government overspending, the types of leadership required in running a congressional office, the ups and downs of their Minnesota/Wisconsin Vikings/Packers rivalry, and how congressional partisanship might be quelled if members just sat down and had a drink together.

Bobby Tudor on the Culture of Success

Bobby Tudor is a former professional basketball playler, investment banker and leader in the energy industry. He is currently CEO of the investment bank Artemis Energy Partners and is chairman of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative of the Greater Houston Partnership. He was the founder and CEO of THP (Tudor, Pickering, Holt, & Co.). Prior to forming TPH, he was a Partner at Goldman Sachs and a leader of its worldwide energy practice. Bobby received a degree in English and Legal Studies from Rice University and his law degree from Tulane. He now serves on the Rice University Board of Trustees. Bobby Tudor is a 1981 alumnus of TFAS's Public Policy and Economics program in Washington, D.C. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Bobby discuss the lessons he learned playing college basketball at Rice University, putting his law degree to work at Goldman Sachs, channeling his entrepreneurial spirit into founding numerous companies, the positive elements of investment banking, and how building a culture of success is critical for any organization.

Highlights from the 29th Annual TFAS Journalism Awards Dinner

This week is a special episode of the Liberty + Leadership podcast with highlights from TFAS' 29th annual Journalism Awards Dinner in New York City. At the dinner, TFAS introduced a new class of Novak and Rago Fellows, and honored two courageous journalists at the Metropolitan Club in Midtown Manhattan. Honorees and guests included Novak Fellows Jack Butler of the National Review, Billy Binion of Reason Magazine, and Joseph Simonson of The Washington Free Beacon; Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow for Excellence in Journalism Carine Hajjar of The Wall Street Journal; and special guests Paul Gigot of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Rago, Benjamin Riley of The New Criterion, American political commentator and author Dana Perino, and William “Bill” McGurn of The Wall Street Journal. This year’s dinner was especially impactful given that one of our honorees, entrepreneur and activist Jimmy Lai, is currently detained in China for exercising freedom of speech and for criticizing the Chinese government.

Kyle Hybl

Kyle Hybl is the president and chief executive officer of the El Pomar Foundation and is a former member of the Board of Regents at the University of Colorado. Kyle has both a bachelor's degree and J.D. from the University of Colorado. In 2019, Kyle received the TFAS Alumni Achievement Award for his dedication and service to TFAS. Kyle is a two-time TFAS alumnus, participating in the Public Policy + Economics program in 1991 and TFAS's first-ever Prague program in 1993. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Kyle discuss his experiences in post-Soviet Eastern Europe, his time in the Judge Advocate General Corps, being an elected member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, and his work on the behalf of all Coloradans leading the El Pomar Foundation.

Ibrahim Al-Marashi

Ibrahim Al-Marashi is an associate professor of Middle East History at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) and a visiting professor at IE University in Spain. Ibrahim graduated from UCLA majoring in Middle Eastern History, received his master’s degree in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and his doctorate in Modern History from Oxford College. Ibrahim attended a TFAS international program in 2001 and teaches at the TFAS summer programs in Prague. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Ibrahim discuss Ibrahim's time as a TFAS student and teacher, the nuances of teaching conflict resolution, leadership through passion - rather than power, the importance of good grammar, and how one of his articles was plagiarized by British Intelligence in what later became the "Dodgy Dossier," leading some to incorrectly label him the “mastermind behind starting the Iraq war."

Bryce Mitchell

Bryce Mitchell is an Air Force Captain and Staff Officer at the Department of Defense, a National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, an Undergraduate Ambassador for Service to School. Bryce is a TFAS mentor, speaker and a member of the Alumni Engagement Committee. He is also a Defense Ventures Fellow at the Defense Ventures Program. Bryce received a bachelor's degree in international history from the U.S Air Force Academy, a master's degree in International Affairs with a concentration in Espionage and Surveillance from King’s College in London, and attended TFAS’s International Affairs program in 2014. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Bryce discuss his time at the Air Force Academy, working for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a TFAS intern, his experience as an intelligence officer in South Korea during the height of nuclear tensions, the nexus between the DoD and Silicon Valley, and his passion for mountain climbing.

Richard Benedetto

For 25 years, Richard Benedetto served as White House and national political correspondent for USA Today, and teaches journalism at American University as well as for TFAS at George Mason University. Richard is a graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University, earned a masters in journalism from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and also taught journalism at the University of Colorado and St. Bonaventure University. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Richard discuss how journalism has evolved over the past 50 years, writing the first front-page cover story for USA Today, covering 5 presidencies, the politicization of the media, the power of optimism, and how his Italian grandfather taught him to respect the presidency - no matter who was in office.

Joe Sabia

Joe Sabia is the Creative Director of Studio Sabia and a renowned digital content creator. As SVP of Creative Development at Condé Nast, Joe created Vogue Magazine's 73 Questions while growing Condé Nast's cumulative YouTube audience from 1.5M to 46M subscribers. Joe is a 2005 alumnus of TFAS's Prague Program and is a graduate of Boston College. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Joe discuss his TFAS experience in Prague skydiving and rooming with "George from Georgia" (the country not the state), driving from London to Mongolia for charity, how Joe got started producing YouTube content in college, working with people you like, creating 73 Questions for Vogue Magazine, owning a pizza restaurant, and how Joe won the international pun championship.

Lindsey Rose King

Lindsey Rose King is the founder of Mostess, a home decor and hosting company in Houston, Texas. She is alumna of TFAS's Business and Government Relations program and currently serves on TFAS Board of Regents. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Lindsey Rose discuss the challenges of starting and running her own company, her time on Capitol Hill, political fundraising, and how her TFAS experience prepared her for the future.

Elliot Kaufman

Elliot Kaufman is the Letters Editor at The Wall Street Journal where he selects, edits, and solicits letters to the editor. He also runs the Future View column and regularly provides opinion articles and book reviews. In 2018, Elliot was named the Robert L. Bartley Fellow and was the inaugural Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow for Excellence in Journalism with TFAS and The Wall Street Journal. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Elliot and Roger discuss how learning to debate at the dinner table helped him become a debating champion, his time at Stanford University both managing the basketball team and writing for the Stanford Review, how in-depth reporting informs the best option writing, and the heated exchanges in The Wall Street Journal's Letters to the Editor section.

Dr. Donald Devine

Dr. Donald Devine is a TFAS Senior Scholar and served as Director of the Office of Personnel Management in the Reagan administration. Don has had a distinguished career in academics having written 10 books, and taught at both University of Maryland and Bellevue University, where he was known as a proponent of fusionist philosophy. This weeks episode of the Liberty and Leadership Podcast was recorded live at TFAS in front of an audience, where Roger and Don discussed the development of fusionism, the tension between freedom and tradition, reforming the Federal Reserve, Woodrow Wilson's lasting impact, and how Don earned the title of Reagan’s “terrible swift sword” as President Reagan's OPM Director.

Abby Witt '15

Abby Witt is a content producer and host for the PGA TOUR's "The Cut" on NBC Sports’ Golf Channel. In this week's Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Abby discuss her path from anchoring Asbury University's television news station to working the midnight shift as an associate producer at local NBC network affiliate WLEX-TV in Kentucky to covering golf's Olympic debut at the 2016 Games. Today, she interviews PGA's biggest hitters as host of the "The Cut." Abby participated in TFAS’s Journalism and Communications class of 2015 and is a graduate of Asbury University, where she was honored as one of Asbury’s 30 Under 30 in 2021.

Katie Barlow '10

Katie Barlow ’10 is a lawyer turned journalist who hosts “In the Courts with Katie Barlow” on Fox 5 DC in addition to producing content for the SCOTUSblog’s 217K avid TikTok followers as Social Media Editor. Katie is also the co-founder of Circuit Breaker, a website focused on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In this week’s of the Liberty and Leadership Podcast, Roger and Katie discuss her journey from journalist to lawyer back to journalist, the inner workings of the Supreme Court, what Originalism means, the importance of good writing, and her love for both TikTok and the theater. Katie was a member of TFAS’s Journalism and Communications 2010 program and is a graduate of the University of Georgia. She has a J.D. from Georgetown University. The Liberty + Leadership Podcast is hosted by TFAS President Roger Ream ’76 and produced by kglobal. If you have a comment or question for the show, please drop us an email at podcast@TFAS.org.