Mary Kate Cary is the host of Bipodisan, a podcast that brings Republicans and Democrats together at a time when political cynicism is more widespread and the lines between the right and the left are getting thicker. Her guests engage in smart conversations that bring both sides together for civil – and, more often than not, fun – conversations about the issues of the day to help both sides understand each other. Bipodisan seeks to find solutions to our nation’s biggest challenges — with civility, humor, and respect.
While not on the mic, Ms. Cary is a speechwriter, documentarian, political analyst, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center specializing in Presidential Studies. She served on the advisory board to the Miller Center’s First Year Project, offering counsel to the incoming Administration on White House communications strategy. From 2009 to 2017, she was a columnist and contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report, writing a bi-weekly column on politics and appearing regularly on cable and network television, as well as NPR radio.
Ms. Cary is also executive producer of “41ON41,” a documentary film about former President George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States. In it, 41 extraordinary people tell their best stories about his leadership, good humor, bipartisanship and integrity. The film debuted on CNN domestically in June 2014, was a featured film at the 2014 Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia and is available on Netflix, Amazon and other digital platforms.
Ms. Cary served as a White House speechwriter for President Bush from 1989 to early 1992, authoring over 100 Presidential addresses by him. She has ghostwritten several books, two of them about the former President. Ms. Cary has been an Advisory Board member of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University since 2004.
She continues to serve as a professional speechwriter specializing in political and corporate communications, writing for a variety of national political and corporate leaders. Some of her assignments have included State of the Union responses, Republican National Convention addresses, TED talks, and domestic and international speeches.