“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
I sat at a square, stainless-steel table that was cold to the touch. Two New York City Police Department detectives were on either side of me. I was interrogated as they sought to uncover why a juice box was missing or how a window was broken. They would ask questions until they understood “what really happened.”
My mother and father were detectives, and I was the subject of mini-interrogations. My personal values evolved in this hot seat, as this was a normal occurrence in our kitchen. If I were to lie, the truth would eventually come out.
We now live in a world where the value of truth is under assault. People constantly debate what used to be considered facts. This has crippled our ability to make progress against the challenges we face, such as political polarization, racial injustice, and climate change.
As a media executive, I will be my parents: curious, skeptical, and desirous of the truth. I will help restore a shared sense of reality so there are fewer disputes over “what really happened.”
— Jourdan Henry