Kristen Welker wants to leave a lasting imprint on NBC News’ Meet the Press, and one of the ways she hopes to do that is through a new recurring segment on the broadcast. It’s called Meet the Moment – conversations with a series of influential voices not usually involved in politics but who are currently speaking out on political issues.
The upcoming Christmas Eve Sunday episode of Meet the Press will be exclusively comprised of Meet the Moment conversations, but after the Dec. 24 broadcast, Meet the Moment becomes a recurring segment that’s regularly part of the weekly Meet the Press show format.
This weekend’s Meet the Moment-focused episode will feature conversations between Welker and four different guests, each of whom represent a unique perspective on issues that are shaping Americans’ attitudes beyond the day-to-day headlines of U.S. politics:
• Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix on the state of Black maternal health in the United States
• Actor Selma Blair on how her Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis has spurred her advocacy for fair pay for the disability community
• Author and Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta on changes in the American evangelical church
• Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad on her push for women’s rights in Iran and around the world
Over its 76-year-long run on NBC, Meet the Press has featured conversations with some of history’s most influential cultural leaders (although never before has it there been a defined segment dedicated to these conversations) – Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Frost, Gloria Steinem, Michael Jordan, and Jane Fonda.