Running Sesame Street Is Harder Than Working in the White House: Sesame Workshop CEO, Sherrie Westin

Everyone loves Sesame Street. Now imagine being in charge of it. That's Sherrie Westin's job. As CEO and President of Sesame Workshop, Westin's day-to-day includes: figuring out how to explain to a four-year-old that a parent is in prison. Deciding whether Elmo wears a mask during the pandemic, knowing half the country will be furious either way. Spending three years with every autism organization in America building a single Muppet. Doing layoffs in the hardest year the place has ever had. And answering the question she can't get away from: how do you stay true to your values and remain a beacon without becoming a lightning rod? She ran a television network before this. She worked in the White House. She says this one is harder than both. "People are like, how hard could it be? You're hanging out with Muppets. Yeah, right." What nobody tells you about Sesame Street is that it's a research operation. They tried a storyline about divorce, tested it, found it was scaring kids, and killed it. When they built Julia, the first autistic Muppet, they got every autism organization in one room, groups that disagreed with each other on almost everything, and found the one thing they all agreed on. A mother wrote in afterward. She'd never been able to find the words to tell her five-year-old she had autism, until her daughter saw the Muppet Julia on Sesame Street. Her daughter's reaction: "So I'm amazing too, right?" Plus: Big Bird's actual age, why she hires for a sense of humor, and what a lot of adults could stand to learn from a show made for three-year-olds. CHAPTERS Chapters

00:00:00 Managing Big Bird is harder than running the White House 00:01:44 The hidden complexity of Sesame Street 00:06:21 Reaching 500 million children — The scope of Sesame's mission 00:10:26 Creating Julia, the first autistic Muppet 00:14:22 "So I'm amazing too, right?" 00:17:28 Staying nonpartisan when everything is political 00:23:06 Big Bird is six years old 00:27:01 The hardest part: downsizing and losing USAID funding 00:30:40 Screen time guilt