Heroism — Podcast — 12 Geniuses

The Future of Counterterrorism with Harry Samit

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, the United States experienced a terrorist attack that changed everything. While travel, immigration, and international relations were all significantly altered, one change that many of us don’t know about is the way law enforcement monitors, apprehends, and prosecutes terrorist activity.

In this interview, Don MacPherson is joined by Harry Samit. Harry is a former FBI agent who served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Minneapolis. He was an integral member of the team of agents who tried to stop the 9/11 attacks. They discuss the events leading up to 9/11, including the arrest and investigation of al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui. They also explore how terrorism is still expressed around the world today and the threats the U.S. faces from foreign and domestic terrorists. Harry shares his perspective on how counterterrorism will evolve and the ways in which agencies will change in order to monitor suspicious behavior in the United States.

Harry Samit is a former United States Navy Naval Intelligence Officer. After his Naval career, Harry spent 21 years in the FBI and was a founding member of the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force. In the months and years following the attacks on 9/11, Harry was also a key figure in analyzing ways to prevent future terrorist attacks.

Leadership Moment - The Power to Persevere

A decade from now when we look back at what we’ve overcome, we will remember the connections who helped us through this moment and the meaning that gave us the will to endure and the power to persevere.

Leadership Momentdon macphersonApril 8, 2020Leadership Moment, Leadership, WWII, War, Empathy, Resilience, hope, Sacrifice, Family, Heroism

Leadership Moment - Extraordinary Acts of Heroism from Ordinary People

The last few weeks have rocked the world in ways that most of us have never experienced. We are self-quarantined, restaurants and shops are closed, school children have been sent home, events we have held sacred are canceled. Whatever normal was seems like a distant memory. Our souls are being tried.

Times of uncertainty have a way of unifying us. They also create extraordinary acts of heroism from ordinary people. Bill MacDonald and Richard Seale are two of those heroes. When Hurricane Sandy rocked their community in 2012, they decided to step up. This is their story.

Leadership Moment - Fannie Lou Hamer

Leadership Moment - Fannie Lou Hamer - Resilience

You can’t imagine a more unlikely leader to take the national spotlight. The youngest of 20 children born to sharecropper parents, she defied the odds and terrified a sitting president. This was during a time when women didn’t have a voice and African Americans were second-class citizens. Fannie Lou Hamer was both. What she lacked in formal education, privilege, and experience, she more than made up for in effort, courage, and a healthy dose of resilience.

Fannie Lou was born in 1917 in the segregated south. She was picking cotton by the age of six. By the time she was 13, she could pick hundreds of pounds a day despite having a leg ravaged by polio. Fannie Lou would have been an excellent student in high school and college, but those doors were not open to African American girls from rural Mississippi.

Her hard labor as a child prepared her to be a fighter as an adult. The catalyst that propelled her to national prominence was…

Hear her story here.

Leadership Moment - Didi

Leadership Moment - Didi - The Unauthorized Leader

The streets were filling with people enjoying the warm Parisian air. Cafés and restaurants bustled. Didi finished his prayers and stepped into the night. Even for The City of Light, the atmosphere was electric and the revelers were taking full advantage of it.

Didi arrived at work and began to inspect the crowd as they filed into the theater. Smiles greeted him as the headline act took the stage. The audience roared their approval.

No one needs to bestow the role of leadership upon someone. Sometimes it is simply snatched in time of need. That is exactly what happened next.

On November 13th, 2015, a series of attacks hit Paris. One happened to be at the Bataclan. Hundreds of people who were there that night owe their lives to Didi and his willingness to shepherd them to safety. The first shots fired that night interrupted the music. Chaos ensued...

Hear his story here.

Leadership Momentdon macphersonJuly 15, 2019Leadership Moment, leadership, Paris, Bravery, Heroism

12 Geniuses Podcast

Search for a Topic