The Crux of The Story…
… is produced in partnership with the School of Journalism and Mass Communications's Kennedy Greenhouse Studio at the University of South Carolina. Hosted by Mike Fernandez, SVP & Chief Communications Officer at Enbridge, tackles relevant and controversial topics in the field of communications that are shaping business, politics, and our lives.
Prominent guests from PR, journalism, business, and academia discuss how communications can inspire, persuade, deepen one’s understanding or move an audience - or even a nation - to action.
Available on SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Episode 124: Steve Clayton, Microsoft
How is Microsoft’s communication team reimagining its strategy in the Age of AI? Steve Clayton, vice president of communications strategy, joins The Crux to answer this question. Steve, a former systems engineer, focuses on the revolutionary aspects of generative software that can help communicators while recognizing its fallibility in translating human emotion. Steve also gives listeners tips on how to create the perfect “prompt” using Microsoft’s AI app, “Copilot.”
Episode 123: Debbie Hines, former prosecutor & author
Former prosecutor Debbie Hines joins The Crux for a conversation on enduring racial inequity in the American criminal justice system. Debbie is a leading voice in the fight for transforming the system from the inside and an expert on the history of racial inequality. She highlights themes of her new book, "Get Off My Neck: Black Lives, White Justice, and A Former Prosecutor’s Quest for Reform." Debbie notes how probation and misdemeanor crimes are leading to unnecessary and disproportionate incarcerations of Black people.
Episode 122: Corey Dubrowa & AnnaMaria DeSalva, Weber Shandwick
Corey duBrowa, head of BCW, and AnnaMaria DeSalva, head of Hill & Knowlton discuss the merger of their global PR agencies to become Burson. Hear what they have been doing to integrate and support their teams before the July 1 launch. As they work toward the launch, they are managing changing approaches to ESG, how to use emerging AI tools to help clients manage risk and reputation, and a turbulent political environment. Plus, in the midst of all this, Corey was able to write a book on extended play recordings.
Episode 121: Chris Perry, Weber Shandwick Futures
A discussion with Weber Shandwick’s Chris Perry on his new book, Perspective Agents: A Human Guide to the Autonomous Age, which focuses on relationships of two parallel revolutions: the technological uprising of automation and AI; and, and a new sense of human autonomy that allows us to find new meaning and direction. Perspective Agents challenges us to adapt and thrive in this new era of machine and man. Chris asks, “How does having instant answers enable us to do our own discovery, to do our own fact finding, and frankly to elevate our own agency.”
Episode 120: Moira Gilchrist, Philip Morris International
New PMI Chief Communications Officer Moira Gilchrist, who holds a Ph. D. in pharmaceutical sciences, says she wants people to know her company has changed and is serious about ending cigarette smoking. “ My passion…is to bring those facts to the fore so that everybody can make a decision about us based on facts of today and not on the memory on the memory of the 1990s,” a reference to a time when many tobacco companies were found to have misled the public about the dangers of smoking.
Episode 119: David Abel, journalist & Boston University Professor
Award-winning journalist and Boston University College of Communication professor David Abel, newest movie, Inundation District, focuses on Boston’s Seaport district, which is threatened by rising seawater. The film is a master class in science-based journalism in a time of eroding trust in science. A prolific filmmaker, Abel’s works have largely focused on natural resource issues off New England’s coast. However, his journey as a filmmaker began in 2013 when he was documenting the first little person to run the Boston Marathon. He was at the finish line when the bombs exploded that day. His reporting on the tragedy with colleagues at the Boston Globe earned the team a Pulitzer Prize. This is an episode for anyone interested in becoming a better storyteller and the power of visual media.
Episode 118: Nancy Elder, NY Mets; Jon Weisman, LA Dodgers
Jon Weisman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Nancy Elder, of the New York Mets join The Crux to discuss leading comms for two of the world's leading sports franchises. From working with team execs to dealing with team execs to players’ social media habits, Nancy and Jon provide a fascinating inside look at their roles as communicators in major league baseball.
Meet Your Hosts
Mike Fernandez
Mike Fernandez has counseled CEOs and boards for America’s largest companies (including the world’s largest privately-held company, Cargill) for more than 20 years as a chief communications officer (CCO), and has led two significant public relations firms in the U.S. (Burson and LLYC).
He is sought for his advice and counsel in crisis and reputation management, corporate marketing, government relations, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement.
He was the first U.S.-born Latino to serve as the CCO of a Fortune 100 company and is the youngest to ever serve as a U.S. Senate press secretary.
He is the SVP and Chief Communications Officer of Enbridge. Fernandez oversees a team of more than 150 professionals across North America.
Gary Sheffer
From The Crux of the Story ‘s beginning in 2019 until the spring of 2024, the podcast was hosted by Mike and the incomparable Gary Sheffer while they were both professors at Boston University’s College of Communication.
After working as a journalist and as press secretary to a New York governor, Gary would serve as chief communications officer at GE for 13 years.
Known for his expertise in helping organizations navigate crises and complex issues, Gary today provides strategic communications counsel to clients and lectures at his Alma Mater, Siena College.