Trauma and ”insane” inequity fuel Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s crusade

131 years - that’s how long it will take to close the gender gap, a sobering fact from the World Economic Forum, nobody on the earth right now will be alive to see. Our first guest has made it her mission to move the needle toward gender equity. She’s an actress, filmmaker, and an athlete, who also happens to be the First Partner of California, a title she coined after shunning the traditional First Lady term. She’s Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of one of the Democrats' loudest voices right now, Governor Gavin Newsom. Before heading to the governor's mansion Newsom lived through some very deep personal trauma - which helped shape her mission for gender equality today.

In our Letter From London this week, what the world makes of the US political circus that never fails to deliver. Case in point: Donald Trump's stunning win in Iowa this week, in spite of - or perhaps because of - the 91 criminal charges and other legal fires he’s fighting. Joining Christiane this week to discuss are two journalists who are no stranger to suspending disbelief - Emily Maitlis and Mark Landler.

Also this hour, bullet wounds, burns, amputations and orphaned children. These are the realities of war that doctors in Gaza are dealing with, after three months of Israeli bombardment. Doctor Deborah Harrington spent two weeks over Christmas volunteering at Gaza’s al-Aqsa Hospital, right in the heart of the Gaza Strip.

What happens to the people of Gaza and Israel the 'day after', if and when the fighting ever ends? Christiane puts that to Mark Regev - Senior Advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister - following Benjamin Netanyahu’s apparent rejection of a post-war Palestinian state.

From the Amanpour Archive this week, how the first Gulf War - and the destruction it caused - echoes Israel's bombardment of Gaza today. 

And in Ask Amanpour, one listener asks how Christiane can cope with witnessing such cruelty in the stories she reports on?

Airdate: Saturday January 20th, 2024

Guests: Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Emily Maitlis, Mark Landler, Deborah Harrington, Mark Regev.

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