In The News

CNN military and diplomatic analyst and APB speaker John Kirby appeared on CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church to offer his expertise in light of the recent developing tensions with Iran. After Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in a retaliatory strike, both Iran’s foreign minister and President Trump tweeted potential messages of de-escalation. Kirby weighed in on the tense situation, cautioning against taking these preliminary tweets as surefire evidence of de-escalation. He added that with the amount of information we have currently, we cannot be sure if Iran intentionally avoided casualties or mistakenly hit a deserted section of the base. Kirby pointed out that while Iran’s missile system has undoubtedly gotten much more sophisticated in recent years, it is not always accurate, saying, “there was a risk in using that kind of missile if your goal was not to hurt or kill.”

APB’s Dr. M. Jocelyn Elders has had an incredible life, from being a sharecropper’s daughter who did not see a physician once during her own childhood to becoming a physical therapist in the Army, a physician, a professor and eventually the first African American Surgeon General of the United States. Elders’ incredible life story is now being immortalized in a documentary film called Healer, which is not only a testament to her own perseverance, courage and determination, but also a tribute to the myriad women who have broken down barriers to realize their dreams of practicing medicine.

One of the winningest game show contestants of all time, Ken Jennings recently earned legendary status when he won the coveted title of Jeopardy!'s Greatest of All Time. Dubbed "the Michael Jordan of trivia," Jennings has shattered records, become a pop culture icon and is one of our most sought-after speakers. Having spoken at corporate events and colleges nationwide, Jennings covers topics ranging from how to train your brain for high performance and success to the importance of education.

APB speakers Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are not only husband and wife, but also Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, human rights advocates and best-selling authors together. This super-couple has published their highly anticipated new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope. To kick off the release, they adapted an essay from the book for The New York Times. 

Written by Speaker Nomi Prins | A new decade has arrived! And with it, the Roaring Twenties of a century ago echo today. That’s because the past can teach us lessons. Consider F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda. She eloquently summarized the excesses and red-flags of the 1920’s. “We couldn't go on indefinitely being swept off our feet,” she noted in her 1932 semi-biographical book, Save Me The Waltz. The book was published at the height of the Great Depression that followed the Crash of 1929.

APB’s Mark Blyth, a bestselling author, lauded professor and eminent political economist, lays out his vision of the coming decade in a timely New York Times op-ed. The Times asked 13 high-profile public figures, from Andrew Yang to Larry David to Blyth himself, to weigh in on the decade and share insights into what is to come. Blyth brings his signature honesty and essential knowledge to the question of our near future, saying, “only one thing matters between now and 2030: climate change.” He incorporates his sweeping knowledge of politics, finance and popular sentiment into his remarks, making bold predictions about not only the 2020 Election, but 2024 and beyond.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion many times over and APB speaker Kayla Harrison closed out 2019 with a bang! She clinched a major victory over challenger Larissa Pacheco in the Professional Fighters League women’s lightweight championship.

APB speaker David Epstein’s latest bestseller Range contradicts the conventional wisdom of “practice makes perfect” or, in career lingo, specialization. Epstein went on GPS with Fareed Zakaria on CNN to explain his data-driven bombshell theory. Epstein shares that it is generalists who thrive in a specialized world and offers two key reasons why this is so. Firstly, he draws on his encyclopedic knowledge of science, journalism, data, business and technology to assert that the world itself is becoming more specialized, which in turn demands big-picture thinkers to synthesize information and connect the dots. Secondly, as he puts it for Zakaria on air, “we learn who we are in practice, not in theory,” meaning that we maximize our potential by sampling many things.

Jeopardy! champion and APB speaker Ken Jennings is set to return to the Jeopardy! stage this January to compete against the other two top money winners in show history. The ultimate showdown, aptly called Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, is set to debut at 8pm EST on January 7th, hosted by Alex Trebek. Already having won two games, the first of the three contestants to win three matches will take home $1 million (and a lifetime of bragging rights), while the two runners-up will win $250,000.

APB speaker Herman Boone, a beloved football coach, mentor, leader and motivator that touched the hearts of thousands, has passed away at the age of 84 in his home in Alexandria, Virginia. Boone is best known for uniting two racially diverse football teams in the '70s as newfound head coach of the T.C. Williams High School. The incredible story, including his journey with assistant Bill Yoast, was memorialized in the mega-hit film Remember the Titans, in which Boone was played by Denzel Washington to great acclaim. Coach Boone was a larger-than-life figure in the Alexandria community, and he became a symbol of steadfastness in the fight for racial integration and equality nationwide.