Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumHow Joe Biden Inspired This Reporter to Confront His Stutter
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-joe-biden-inspired-reporter-john-hendrickson-to-confront-his-stutterThis used to be my nightmare. In some ways it still is, he tweeted on Friday as he awaited his appearance on Stephanie Ruhles MSNBC show. Fuck it. Should be on around 9:40.
Hendrickson had been booked to discuss his groundbreaking story on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his history of stuttering. The pieceWhat Joe Biden Cant Bring Himself to Sayreceived attention because the former vice president, a longtime public advocate and role model for stutterers, has never before granted a media interview that is laser-focused in such piercing detail on his own childhood speech disorder, the vestiges of which are still apparent in his campaign appearances and debate performances.
Yet the story was especially compelling, indeed astonishing, because Hendrickson, 31, has struggled with his own pronounced stutter since he was 4 years old. Going on TV, for Hendrickson, was the heart-pounding equivalent of a bungee jump.
I was definitely nervous, he told The Daily Beast in a phone interview during which his otherwise effortless eloquence was punctuated by a halting cadence and percussive pops that approximated a verbal drum roll. I know what I look like and sound like when I talkand it isnt pretty. But if Im going to write this article and my goal is just to help people understand the disorder, then I cant hide from it either. I had to put myself out there as well.
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Ruhle added: To watch a person really put his vulnerabilities out there in such a wayit was a gift that he did it. Im so grateful. Look at all of us, with our dukes up all the time, feverishly typing tweets attacking one another. Read Johns words, but look in his eyes in that interview. Thats somebody who cares, who really put his vulnerabilities out there and put himself at risk to help people get better and smarter. Thats why he did it, in my opinion. I dont think he did it to help Joe Biden. I think he did it to help us.
The reaction to Hendricksons MSNBC appearance, and especially to his articlehis first piece of writing since joining The Atlantic from Rolling Stone in Aprilhas been overwhelmingly positive.
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Gerald McGuire, chairman of the National Stuttering Association (as well as chairman of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of California at Riverside School of Medicine), also praised Hendrickson.
Youve got a great reporter talking about his own stuttering and coming out about it, said McGuire, who has struggled personally to overcome a severe stutter. Hopefully its going to increase awareness and decrease the stigma, and allow people to be more free about their stuttering and to talk about it openly.
He did a really ballsy thing, Hendricksons boss, Atlantic Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, told The Daily Beast. This guy has more guts than any 20 reporters youll meet Our hearts are bursting with pride.
Hendrickson deserves all the praise he's received for writing that piece, and I'm so glad he did.
But the headline is correct -- Biden inspired it.
And oh, how we need a president who can inspire people to do their best.
And great journalists like Hendrickson to show us what the media are capable of, at their best.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
B Stieg
(2,410 posts)is undeniable!
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(144,919 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
peggysue2
(10,823 posts)Just pulled the video up in full. That's an incredible segment. And yes, Hendrickson deserves the praise he's received for that and the astonishing interview he had with Joe Biden. The fact that Biden inspired this young man is just another check mark in Biden's list of attributes. Again, it falls into the trust category. Biden trusted Hendrickson with the initial interview and Hendrickson trusted himself to appear for a first-ever public interview with Stephanie Ruhle. That's the sort of play-it-forward attitude we all need, a coming together drawing on strengths we might not believe we have in the moment.
And look at all the people this one written interview in The Atlantic and the follow-up MSNBC interview has touched. Good will, honesty and courage is potent! And inspiring.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Cha
(296,844 posts)Mahalo, hpd !
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden