Episode 80, with guests Shelley Z Ross and Ajay Patil


Shelley Z Ross and Ajay Patil are our guests this week.
Show produced by Katherine Caperton.
Original Air Date: December  1, 2012 on SiriusXM “POTUS” Channel 124.
Polioptics airs regularly on POTUS on Saturdays at 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm.
Follow us on Twitter @Polioptics Listen to the show by clicking on the bar above.
Show also available for download on Apple iTunes by clicking here

How great it is to be back on the air with Joshua King here at PoliOptics!  My time away was filled new polioptic experiences as I worked on the Romney for President campaign.  During that period I never missed a week of listening to the show.  Josh and the team of guest hosts made this show better than it has ever been.  I want to personally thank Josh for his support this summer.  He gave me great advice and was a source of much support.

Leading the charge on this week’s show, my goal was to do everything I could to avoid talking about the fiscal cliff.  Too many headlines and too much speculation — and the visual here is nothing short of depressing.  So I went for the brass ring.  And I am proud to let you know that on this quest, I was successful.

Episode 80 is all about the experience and sacrifice that is required to be truly great.

Shelley Z Ross, Emmy Award-winning producer who changed the landscape of morning, primetime and late night television

Our first guest, Shelley Z Ross, is – in my humble opinion – the epitome of these values.  Shelley is one of network television’s most successful and powerful executive producers ever.  She is a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer who literally changed the landscape of morning, primetime and late night television over the course of her career.

And best of all — she took me under her wing and gave me a chance to learn, grow and lead while she was Executive Producer of ABC’s Good Morning America.

Here are just a few of the opportunities I will forever be grateful to her for:

1) Being along for the ride as Shelley pulled off the first ever live broadcast from a battleship during wartime,

2) Having a leadership role in GMA’s broadcast from the Pentagon, one year after 9/11 to reopen the wing destroyed by the hijackers.

3) Taking America inside the FBI and the lab in Quantico, VA.

As to our interview with Shelley — I’m not committing hyperbole when I say that Josh King and I were fascinated by the details and anecdotes she shares.  Our conversation covered a reporter’s notebook from the Nixon presidency, the booking notes on the first ever broadcast interview with Charles Manson, plus Shelley’s take on future of CNN under the new leadership of Jeff Zucker.

But the most important element of this exclusive interview is what Shelley Ross has to say about her mistakes along the way.  Her candor and reflection about the period after 9/11/2001 and the run-up to the Iraq war are shocking.  Ever a producer’s producer, Shelley Ross always seeks perfection and is never afraid to admit when she and her team could have done a better job.  Even in her amazing success she has remained grounded and humble.

Don’t miss a second of this interview.

Next up on Episode 80 — inside the 2nd Inaugural of the 44th President of the United States.

Ajay Patil is a seasoned political producer with a flare for the high production values that are usually reserved for Hollywood.

Ajay Patil, co-founder and partner of Showcall Inc.

Ajay’s company Showcall is a power house in Washington D.C. and his team has played a significant role in making the quadrennial celebration of American democracy dignified and beautiful.  During our conversation about what to expect next month on the west front of the US Capitol, Josh King shares his experiences from the Clinton White House.

King and Patil know their stuff and have some fun ideas about how this time around we might see something new and different.  Indeed, the power behind a business as successful as Showcall, comes down to vision and flawless execution.  If you ever wanted to know, “how’d they do that?” then Ajay Patil is the polioptic practitioner for you!

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do.  Celebrating the people we learn from and the success and failures that define them is what it’s all about.  Perfection is the aspiration.  PoliOptics is a labor of love.

 

 

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