Pete Buttigieg
Work in Progress with Sophia Bush
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a rare, deeply personal conversation, former — and perhaps future — presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg opens up about what it’s really like to lead, love, and parent in a country in crisis.
From the life-defining decisions that shaped the man behind the headlines, to why he’s willing to put everything on the line when the stakes have never been higher, Pete reveals how he’s rising to the moment while staying grounded in what matters most.
Stay updated on all things Pete here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:04.4 | Hey, everyone. |
| 0:05.6 | It's Sophia. |
| 0:06.7 | Welcome to Work in Progress. |
| 0:18.8 | Welcome back to Work in progress this week. Friends, we have the ultimate whip smart guest here with us today, someone that I have been geeked to have on the show and who I have been lucky enough to be in rooms with over the years, fighting for what's right, standing for what's good. |
| 0:39.3 | And who's smarter than today's guest? Pete Buttigieg is here, friends. If you have found |
| 0:46.8 | yourself pausing mid-political argument that you hear on TV and you think, wait a second, |
| 0:52.1 | this actually makes a lot of sense, I would bet you money that you're watching TV and you think, wait a second, this actually makes a lot of sense. |
| 1:00.4 | I would bet you money that you're watching Pete Buttigieg on screen, and I can't believe I'm going to say it, you're probably watching him completely deconstruct insane arguments on Fox News. |
| 1:06.3 | He manages to answer tough questions with such calm and precision. His steadiness is disarming. His smile |
| 1:14.4 | is so charming. And he's just the nicest Midwestern guy in the political sphere. Pete was elected |
| 1:22.3 | at just 29 years old as a young mayor in South Bend, Indiana. He served as a Navy reservist. He was deployed to Afghanistan. He was a road scholar. Oh, and by the way, the first openly gay Senate confirmed cabinet secretary in U.S. history. His resume is incredibly impressive. His commitment to human goodness is incredibly inspiring, and he manages to spin all of |
| 1:47.9 | these plates while being a devoted husband and a loving father of two. And I am just so thrilled that he's |
| 1:54.5 | here with us today. I want to ask him questions about leadership, about parenting, and about |
| 2:00.0 | how he's meeting the moment in this absolute |
| 2:03.1 | insane dumpster fire of a 2026. It's crazy out there, friends, but we're managing to find |
| 2:10.0 | some good and some hope and, dare I say, some inspiration together. Let's dive in with Pete Buttigieg. |
| 2:27.6 | Thank you. |
| 2:35.0 | Yeah, same here. |
| 2:36.0 | Yeah, my team was asking if we've met. |
| 2:38.0 | It was funny. |
... |
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