Work in Progress: Abby Phillip
Drama Queens
iHeartPodcasts
4.9 • 23.9K Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Abby Phillip is one of the most trusted voices in American media — the anchor of CNN NewsNight and a sharp, steady guide through democracy’s most turbulent moments. She argues that journalism today isn’t about pretending to be “impartial” but rather meeting every story with curiosity, honesty, and depth.
Abby's also unafraid to put the powerful on blast, and she reveals a major issue that politicians are missing when it comes to voters. Plus, find out how her new book A Dream Deferred is reframing Jesse Jackson’s legacy and raising urgent questions about America right now.
Check out her book at bookshop.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.2 | Hi, everyone. It's Sophia. |
| 0:06.8 | Welcome to Work in Progress. |
| 0:19.0 | Hello, friends, and welcome back to this week's work in progress. |
| 0:22.3 | Today we are talking to a journalist that I deeply admire, and she also happens to be a woman I really like to hang out with. |
| 0:30.5 | Abby Phillip is our guest today, and she has become one of the most trusted and incisive voices in American journalism. |
| 0:38.0 | She is known for her unflappable energy, her sharp political analysis, |
| 0:43.3 | and her incredibly steady presence is the anchor of CNN's News Night. |
| 0:48.7 | And Abby is here with us today because she's just released a new book, |
| 0:53.1 | which feels incredibly relevant for these times, |
| 0:56.8 | even though it's a study of the 1980s. It is called a Dream Deferred. Jesse Jackson and the |
| 1:02.4 | fight for black political power. It looks at his 1984 and 1988 runs for president and really |
| 1:09.4 | the way he was shaking up a system that clearly needs some shaking. |
| 1:15.6 | Abby's here today to talk about the research that went into this book, the lessons that it |
| 1:20.3 | holds that are relevant for all of us in this moment, her thoughts about what it will be like |
| 1:25.6 | in the future when we look back at this current political time. |
| 1:30.0 | And she's also going to share some of her personal stories from growing up in Trinidad and Tobago to |
| 1:36.6 | moving back to the United States to studying government at Harvard. She has really led a life that |
| 1:43.0 | has allowed her to approach the world with a drive to |
| 1:46.8 | understand people and to make sure their stories are being told well and fairly and in ways |
| 1:53.5 | that might unite rather than divide us. So let's jump in with Abby Phillip. |
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