My 15 Minutes on ​“Morning Joe”

The first few pages of TESTIMONY take place on the set of MSNBC’s ​“Morning Joe” in New York City, in 2016. So it was a full circle moment when Joe and Mika and the rest of the gang had me back on to talk about the book. 

We’d been scheduled to talk the previous week, when the book came out. Then we’d nailed down a day earlier in the week, only to have it bumped again at around 5 a.m. So finally I was in studio in D.C., via remote camera, on Thursday, April 27. 

I was a little nervous about how some in the MJ crew would react to that opening scene. And doing remote camera TV is never easy, since you’re talking into a red dot amidst a sea of klieg lights. 

There were a few brain freeze moments for me, but I made it through. And the interview kept going and going, and I kept thinking, ​‘This is great exposure for the book!’ Joe Scarborough asked a few long questions, and then tossed to Eddie Glaude (who I’ve interviewed about his book on James Baldwin) for one from him and then Willie Geist closed it out with a question as well. 

After we wrapped, a crew member came into the room to unhook me from the microphone and noted with surprise how long the segment went. I was grateful for the time. You can watch the full segment here at this link, and I’ve tried to embed it below, but with no luck so far.