Public Apologies, Private Agendas, and the War on Truth with Aliza Licht and Co-host Samantha Ettus

LEAVE YOUR MARK: Freshly Brewed Career Advice with Aliza Licht

Aliza Licht

Business, Careers

5.0 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 6 August 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Leave Your Mark, my dear friend and special co-host Samantha Ettus joins me to unpack what happens when people and institutions get their apologies disastrously wrong. From a Vice President at Penguin Random House reposting a vile mockery of an innocent Jewish woman’s murder, to the New York Times publishing a dangerously misleading story about starvation in Gaza, we explore how these failures not only erode public trust but also fuel antisemitism. This episode goes beyond PR missteps to unpack the moral and societal cost of bad apologies, and the silence that often follows them. With candor, urgency, and clarity, we break down: - Why the “I didn’t read it” excuse doesn’t fly when you’re an editor - The anatomy of a real apology and the red flags that scream deflection - What the New York Times gets consistently wrong about Israel and the Jewish people - How modern journalism is failing at its duty and what that means for public safety - Why brands and institutions must speak out and what silence really signals This is more than a conversation about saying sorry. It’s about who gets protected, who gets harmed, and what real accountability looks like in a world where perception is power. Listen now to learn what to look for — and demand — when an apology isn’t enough. 00:00 Introduction to Leave Your Mark 00:28 The Art of Public Apologies 01:21 Case Study: Doubleday Books VP Apology 03:36 The Incident and Its Aftermath 05:48 Analyzing the Apology 10:18 Case Study: The New York Times Apology 16:10 The Role of Journalism and Accountability 26:03 Concluding Thoughts and Future Discussions

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Elisa Likt, and this is Leave Your Mark the podcast, where I brew fresh career advice with some of my most inspiring and successful friends.
0:09.5	It's professional advice that you can action immediately, whether you're just starting out in your career or well on your way.
0:16.4	With a massive to-do list and a large cup of coffee, I promise that you can get it all done and still
0:22.5	have time to post about it. Hi, everyone, it's Elisa Lict, and this is Leave Your Mark, and today I am
0:30.1	joined by my dear friend and a special co-host of Leave Your Mark, Samantha Edis. We are diving into
0:36.9	one of the trickiest areas of modern
0:39.2	leadership and communication, the public apology. Whether you're a global news outlet, an executive,
0:45.1	or a celebrity trying to recover your reputation, how you say sorry matters. And today we'll
0:51.3	break down one from the New York Times and one from a vice president at
0:55.0	Double Day Books and Penguin Random House.
0:57.4	And look at what makes an apology land or completely backfire.
1:01.7	Sam, welcome to leave your mark again.
1:04.2	I am so happy to be here.
1:06.0	I am so happy to have you here.
1:08.7	So, Alisa, let's talk.
1:13.1	You and I have been going back and forth about some of these shocking cases. And unfortunately, they have such huge real world ramifications.
1:21.3	I'd love for us to start with the Double Day Books Penguin Random House case. What exactly
1:26.0	happened? So this is a really interesting one, Sam,
1:29.2	because the companies themselves have not done anything wrong. This is about a vice president,
1:35.6	an executive editor at Double Day Books, which is owned by Penguin Random House. His name is
1:40.7	Thomas Jebremerton. He reposted on Instagram stories a tweet that was mocking the murder of an innocent
1:53.2	civilian.
	...

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