Why Am I Telling You This? with Bill Clinton

Leadership matters. And while it’s easy to take a cynical view of government and politics in today’s world, it’s important to remember that public service can and should still be an honorable endeavor - and responsible leadership, working together, and putting people first are still fundamental to effective government. 

In the season finale of Why Am I Telling You This, former Prime Minister Tony Blair joins President Clinton for a wide-ranging discussion on the conflict in Ukraine, the future of Northern Ireland, how to create a vital center in politics, and the work of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Last week was another week marked by multiple mass shootings in America, including attacks in Houston, Southern California, and a particularly heinous, racially-motivated massacre in Buffalo, N.Y. in which 10 people were killed in a supermarket—the deadliest mass shooting in the United States so far this year.

In the wake of these tragedies, Americans have a responsibility to denounce domestic terrorism and stand up to those who promote the racist ideology that motivated the Buffalo shooter.

But elected officials, especially, must go beyond offering thoughts and prayers. Mass shootings keep happening, on a near-weekly basis, and the one thing we know can make them less frequent and less deadly has not been done: namely, reinstating the assault weapons ban and the limit on high-capacity magazines that were in effect from 1994 to 2004.

For this episode of Why Am I Telling You This?, we revisit commentary from President Clinton (originally published in TIME in the wake of two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio on the same weekend in the summer of 2019) calling on Congress to institute universal—and more thorough—background checks, and reinstate the ammunition limit and ban on assault weapons—sensible measures that worked before, and can work again.

Graduation season is here, and soon a new generation of leaders will take their energy, their ideas, and their desire to take action out into the world to help solve the challenges we all face. The more opportunities we provide for more people to pursue higher education, the better off we all are.

This special episode of “Why Am I Telling You This” features a conversation between the sitting First Lady of the United States and community college educator, Dr. Jill Biden and Secretary Hillary Clinton from the 2022 Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting about why community colleges are one of the great cornerstones of America’s education system, and the important role they play in shaping the leaders of tomorrow.

Started in 2007, CGI U has brought together more than 11,000 college and university students together to create change in the U.S. and around the world. The 2022 CGI U meeting, hosted in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges, included more than 400 student leaders, representing 70 countries and more than 200 schools, all with ideas to tackle the innumerable challenges students have faced throughout the COVID 19 pandemic, and to make the world a safer, healthier, and more equitable place for all.

A parent or caregiver’s unconditional love is one of the greatest gifts any of us can receive.  With Mother’s Day around the corner and Father’s Day coming up next month, this special episode of Why Am I Telling You This? brings together some of the most inspiring stories our guests have shared with President Clinton about their parents and other caregivers and the impact they made on their lives. The episode features conversations with Dr. Bernice King, Wynton Marsalis, Magic Johnson, Jason Isbell, David Ortiz, Melba Wilson, Matt Damon, Lisa Leslie, and Jose Andres.

There’s a reason a certain type of home-cooked cuisine is referred to as “soul food”—because it nurtures the spirit as well as the body. From the American South to New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, food is an integral part of culture, a symbol of love, and a way to bring family, friends, and strangers together.

On this episode of Why Am I Telling You This?, President Clinton is joined by “America’s queen of comfort food,” Melba Wilson, whose eponymous restaurant has been serving mouth-watering meals in Harlem—where she was “born, bred, and buttered”—since 2005. In addition to nurturing her native community with food, Wilson also takes care of her neighbors in other ways. In 2021, she was instrumental in setting up a mobile COVID vaccination site for Harlem residents, provided meals to thousands of essential workers, and established the Melba’s COVID-19 Employee Relief Fund to provide financial aid to dozens of restaurant workers who found themselves out of work during the pandemic. She is also serving on New York City’s COVID Recovery and Health Equity Task Force.