Hi, I'm Anna Marie Cox and welcome to With Friends Like These, where we talk about the differences between us.

That letting them divide us.

This week's guest is an expert witness of sorts on this.

She has been working for several years as an activist in one of America's most controversial areas,

trying to cajole compromises out of politicians while remaining true to a passionate base.

She is Shannon Watts, a name that is probably familiar to any friend of the pot in good standing.

She is the founder of the Anti-Gun Violence Group Moms Demand Action.

She's a frequent guest on cable news and pot save America, and she's probably crossed her Twitter feed a time or two.

Her new book is Fight Like a Mother.

How a grassroots movement took on the gun lobby and why women will change the world.

It is part memoir, part handbook.

In our conversation, I got to hear her reflect on some of the messier parts of that movement's journey.

Her own mistakes.

And what kinds of lessons the organization has had to learn to make itself both effective and inclusive and more inclusively effective.

If you've ever wondered where the Shannon Watts has thought about the optics of a bunch of suburban white ladies trying to do something about suburban school shootings,

the answer is that she has thought about it a lot.

And that's why mom's demand action is about and made up of a lot more than that these days.

Coming right up, Shannon Watts.

So Shannon, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

I am really excited to talk to you.

I've talked about you a fair amount on the show, mainly in our Roth East spots.

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