How Autism Became His Superpower: The Leland Vittert Story

The Lincoln Project

Society & Culture, News Commentary, Government, Daily News, News, Politics

4.7 • 8.4K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

He’s covered revolutions, disasters, and political meltdowns. Now, former Fox News host turned News Nation anchor Leland Vittert covers something even bigger—himself. In his new book, he shares how understanding life on the spectrum helped him finally find peace in a world that never stops talking. Bullied mercilessly as a child and delayed in his learning, Leland mastered his ability to observe, listen, and unpack the real news story. Rick Wilson joins him for a candid, often funny, always human look at neurodiversity, purpose, and what happens when a journalist turns the camera inward.
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You can follow Leland Vittert on X @LelandVittert and you can find Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism, wherever fine books are sold.

Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, there's nothing more cruel than kids in middle school.
0:02.8	There's no creature on the planet worse than a kid in middle school.
0:06.9	It is a great training ground, and you will understand this for a television newsroom.
0:13.5	Absolutely.
0:15.1	Your task will not be an easy one.
0:17.8	Your enemy is well trained, well equipped in battlehardt. There is not a liberal
0:22.6	America and a conservative America. There is the United States of America. Good night and good luck.
0:32.1	Hey folks and welcome back to the Lincoln Project podcast. I'm delighted to be joined today by Leland
0:36.2	Vitter. You know him from News Nation.
0:38.0	You knew him before from Fox. A long-time journalist, smart guy, a guy who connects with big
0:43.3	stories and with folks, I think in a way that is missing in a lot of our journalism today.
0:47.7	But today's show isn't really about journalism per se or politics as it often is it's about
0:56.1	lewin's new book and it's called born lucky um a dedicated father a grateful son and my
1:01.7	journey with autism and you know you and i are of a generation where we were we're
1:06.6	we didn't call it autism when we were young. It was, he's distracted.
1:12.4	He's kinetic.
1:17.0	They found a hundred different ways to say it without knowing what we were talking to.
1:22.9	Tell us about your story about this and how you came to, how you came to write this book and why it's important because I think the point of it was, I read it in a sitting, by the way, the point of it to me seems like fitting in and finding your place in the world should not be because you're in one box.
1:38.8	But tell us about your story about how you came to write this.
1:41.1	That's a great takeaway. And thank you for the kind introduction.
1:44.9	Look, it is my story, born lucky, but it really is not about me. It's about so many parents
1:51.9	just like my dad was who feel alone. They feel helpless. They feel hopeless. George Will wrote
	...

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