Special Edition: Beyond Outrage - Unsung Heroes & Doing the ‘Next Needed Thing’

Summary

The NewsWorthy – Special Edition: "Beyond Outrage: Unsung Heroes & Doing the ‘Next Needed Thing’"

Host: Erica Mandy
Guest: Sharon McMahon (“America’s government teacher”, author of The Small and the Mighty)
Date: March 8, 2025
Occasion: International Women’s Day & Women’s History Month

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Episode Overview

This special edition of The NewsWorthy, hosted by Erica Mandy, honors International Women’s Day by spotlighting the often-overlooked women who have shaped American history and what their stories teach us about making an impact. Veteran journalist Mandy speaks candidly with Sharon McMahon—a.k.a. "Sharon Says So"—about the lessons that unsung heroes have for today’s chaotic, often discouraging world: focusing on “the next needed thing,” working with people you disagree with, and redefining what it means to make a difference.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Underrepresentation of Women in History

• Many pivotal women have been “intentionally or accidentally excluded” from the historical narrative due to lack of agency, interest, or opportunity to record their stories.
• Quote:
  • “More men have had their songs sung, Erica, than women. It's the women who, by and large, are unsung.”
    —Sharon McMahon (02:39)
• Despite progress in the U.S., globally (e.g., Iran, Afghanistan) there remains a long road ahead for women’s rights.

2. Common Threads Among Unsung Women

• Most did not have access to power or fame. What they did have was perseverance: doing the “next needed thing” despite limited resources and daunting circumstances.
• Quote:
  • “What they kept doing was the next needed thing... That’s available to all of us.”
    —Sharon McMahon (03:03)
• The power of incremental impact: change isn’t always about monumental acts, but often steady, small actions.

3. Favorite Story: Virginia Randolph

• Notable as a pioneering teacher who revolutionized American education—virtually unknown outside Henrico County, VA.
• Instilled with the mantra: “Just do the next needed thing.”
• Memorable Moment:
  • Sharon’s admiration for teacher stories and how educators’ influence ripples across time. (04:05)

4. Advice for the Overwhelmed & Burnt Out

• Don’t get paralyzed by the scale of the world’s problems; resist “doom spirals” and “analysis paralysis.” (04:37)
• Instead:
  • “Just choose to do for one person what you wish you could do for them all. And that actually will help fuel the next needed thing.”
    —Sharon McMahon (04:37)
• Emphasis on small, local actions as fuel for future progress—acts for neighbors, friends, etc.

5. Are We in America’s Worst Era?

• Contextualizes today’s challenges with U.S. history: there have been far darker times (e.g., lawmakers beating each other in Congress over slavery).
• Quote:
  • “Are we nearly beating each other to death on the floor of Congress over whether or not it is acceptable to own humans? No, we are not.”
    —Sharon McMahon (10:22)
• Acknowledges contemporary issues while underscoring historical progress (e.g., women voting, abolition of slavery).

6. Working With Your Enemies: The Septima Clark Example

• Septima Clark embodied the art of collaborating across deep divides, even with those she strongly disagreed with (like segregationists).
• Change in America—civil rights, women’s suffrage—required bipartisan, broad-based cooperation.
• Quote:
  • “If we want long lasting change, we have to be willing to work with people with whom we disagree on other things.”
    —Sharon McMahon (11:25)
• Viral moments are often outrage-based, but much of the real progress comes quietly and collaboratively.

7. Bipartisanship & Congress: Show Ponies vs. Workhorses

• True, Congress is less productive than in the past, but most bills that reach the President are bipartisan.
• Work often goes unseen because cooperation isn’t sensational enough for viral media.
• Quote:
  • “Almost all legislation that is passed today has to be bipartisan. There is no party that has such strong majorities that they can overcome the minority party.”
    —Sharon McMahon (13:32)

8. The State of Women’s Rights Today

• Tremendous progress: More women in higher education and medical school, data-backed effectiveness of women leaders and surgeons.
• Major gap: Equal representation in top corporate and government roles; e.g., no U.S. woman president yet.
• Reproductive rights remain a flashpoint of contention.
• Quote:
  • “Women who are the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, their companies statistically outperform those led by men...”
    —Sharon McMahon (14:36)

9. Redefining Impact & Activism

• Impact isn’t measured by fame or scale. Everyday, “ordinary” people—teachers, neighbors—change lives in meaningful ways.
• Quote:
  • “We need to disabuse ourselves of the notion that ‘having an impact’ means we need to be famous.”
    —Sharon McMahon (16:20)
• Don’t “go it alone”: hundreds of organizations already exist to address most causes.
• On Social Media:
  • “Arguing on the Internet is not activism... No one goes to bed with food in their bellies... as a result of leaving the nasty Facebook comments.”
    —Sharon McMahon (17:20)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Time | Quote/Paraphrase | Speaker | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------| | 02:39 | “More men have had their songs sung, Erica, than women.” | Sharon McMahon | | 03:03 | “What they kept doing was the next needed thing... That’s available to all of us.” | Sharon McMahon | | 04:05 | “As a longtime teacher, I always, always love a good teacher story.” | Sharon McMahon | | 04:37 | “Just choose to do for one person what you wish you could do for them all.” | Sharon McMahon | | 10:22 | “Are we nearly beating each other to death on the floor of Congress ...? No, we are not.”| Sharon McMahon | | 11:25 | “If we want long lasting change, we have to be willing to work with people... disagree.” | Sharon McMahon | | 13:32 | “Almost all legislation that is passed today has to be bipartisan... “ | Sharon McMahon | | 14:36 | “Women ... CEOs of Fortune 500 companies ... statistically outperform ... led by men.” | Sharon McMahon | | 16:20 | “We need to disabuse ourselves of the notion that ‘having an impact’ means ... famous.” | Sharon McMahon | | 17:20 | “Arguing on the Internet is not activism ... no one goes to bed with food in their bellies [from that].”| Sharon McMahon |

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Important Timestamps

• 00:29 – 01:49: Erica Mandy introduces the theme; Sharon McMahon joins.
• 01:54 – 04:32: Discussing unsung women, and Virginia Randolph as a favorite example.
• 04:37 – 05:58: Coping with overwhelm; the “next needed thing” approach.
• 08:46 – 10:43: America’s current challenges versus historical lows.
• 10:43 – 12:31: The importance of working with adversaries (Septima Clark example).
• 12:31 – 13:48: Bipartisanship and overlooked congressional collaboration.
• 14:07 – 15:33: The state of women’s rights: achievements, setbacks, and next steps.
• 15:33 – 18:16: Redefining impact, joining forces, and pitfalls of online “activism.”

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Summary Takeaways

• Major leaps in U.S. history often came from the perseverance of unsung, everyday individuals—especially women.
• Don’t be paralyzed by scale: do what you can, where you are.
• Meaningful change almost always requires working with people we disagree with—and quiet collaboration doesn’t make headlines.
• Impact can be small, local, and deeply personal, not just national or famous.
• Online arguments feel activating, but rarely translate into concrete change—real activism means action, not only engagement.

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For more:

• Sharon McMahon's book: The Small and the Mighty
• Sharon's podcast: "Here’s Where It Gets Interesting"
• More at sharonmcmahon.com

Listen daily for 10-minute news updates with fast, fair, fun delivery every weekday on The NewsWorthy.

Transcript

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[Erica Mandy]

Today is Saturday, March 8th. In a political landscape filled with noise, misinformation and overwhelming challenges, how can you find clarity and take meaningful action? One way is to look back at those who came before us. Today. In honor of International Women's Day and Women's History Month, we're talking about overlooked women who shaped America, how they've proven working with your enemies can be so impactful, and how they've taught us the power of simply doing the next needed thing. Sharon McMahon is often called America's government teacher. She's the number one New York Times bestselling author of the book the Small and the Mighty. You may also know her as Sharon says so on Instagram or from her podcast. Here's where it gets interesting or as the creator of the newsletter the Preamble with it all, she offers historical, context and nonpartisan insights to help you navigate today's political landscape. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the state of the world and wondered, what can I actually do to make a difference, this episode is for you. Welcome welcome to the Newsworthy Special edition Saturday. When we sit down with a different expert or celebrity every Saturday to talk about something in the news. Don't forget to tune in every Monday through Friday for our regular episodes where we provide all the day's news in 10 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. It's now time for today's special edition Saturday. Erin McMahon, thank you so much for joining us here on the Newsworthy.

[Sharon McMahon]

I am so happy to be back.

[Interviewer]

What comes to mind for you when you think about International Women's Day and Women's History Month?

[Sharon McMahon]

I think about so many people throughout history that whose stories I absolutely love, but whose stories have either been intentionally excluded from the narrative or accidentally excluded from the narrative because women didn't have agency to be able to record their own stories. Seemed like nobody cared at the time. And we have made Tremendous progress in the United States, but internationally, there, in, especially in some places like Iran, Afghanistan, there is a long way to go. There's a lot of progress left to be made.

[Interviewer]

In your book, the Small and the Mighty, you highlight unsung Americans who change the course of history. Many of them, not all, but many of them are women. In your research, did you find that they were often overlooked and didn't get the credit that they deserved?

[Sharon McMahon]

Yeah, I mean, I didn't go into it saying, well, it needs to be 75% women, but it turns out more men have had their songs sung, Erica, than women. It's the women who, by and large, are unsung. It's the people from marginalized groups, whatever that type of group might be.

[Erica Mandy]

Did you find that there was some.

[Interviewer]

Sort of common thread or common lesson among the women that you covered in your book?

[Sharon McMahon]

Yes. Most of the women with a, with a couple of small exceptions, did not have access to fame, fortune, personal capital in the sense that they could trade on a famous last name. They were not Carnegies, where they could be like, do you know who my husband is? You know, and they could easily just, like, walk in and make things happen. And so, because they didn't have access to these giant levers of power, the way you think, think about a lot of history makers. What they kept doing was the next needed thing. And that is often how they change the course of history, by just choosing to put one foot in front of the other despite their external circumstances. And that, to me, is an incredibly powerful lesson from history that we can apply to our own lives today, that who we are becoming matters, what we do matters, and what we need to do in this moment and is the next needed thing. And that's available to all of us.

[Erica Mandy]

If you had to choose, do you have a favorite?

[Sharon McMahon]

As a longtime teacher, I always, always love a good teacher story. Right. So Virginia Randolph also stands out in my mind as somebody who truly revolutionized education in America at the time. And most people, unless you live in Henrico County, Virginia, most people have never even heard her name. But she's a fantastic example. Her mother explicitly taught her the phrase, just do the next needed.

[Interviewer]

And that's probably so helpful for anyone who feels overwhelmed by how do I help? What do I do?

[Sharon McMahon]

I think so. Right? Because it's not hard to get bogged down in the enormity of the world's problems. Just scroll Facebook for 11 seconds. Right? That's all it takes. And you'll be like, well, we're going straight to hell in a handbasket. That will be the impression you will receive. So it's not not hard to get bogged down. It is hard sometimes to know what to do next. How am I supposed to fix all of these problems that I see? And what I would encourage you to do is instead of getting stuck in analysis paralysis, instead of getting stuck in a doom spiral where all you do is, you know, eat Cheetos and watch Netflix and cry. There's not to say that there's no, there's never a night for Netflix and crying. I'm not saying that has no place in your life, but we can't live in that place. Instead of just getting bogged down in the enormity, just choose to do for one person what you wish you could do for them all. And that actually will help fuel the next needed thing. And the next needed thing, you'll feel those feelings of like, I actually made a difference for that kid. I actually made a difference for my neighbor or my sick friend or whatever. And that is going to buoy you along to the next needed thing. And if each one of us does that, that's going to make a huge differ.

[Erica Mandy]

Still ahead, Sharon McMahon explains why America is not at its worst right now, despite what some people may believe and what we can learn from one woman in particular about actually working with our enemies. Plus, we discuss the state of women's rights today. But first, a quick break for our sponsors. I admit that I love a little luxury now and then, but it doesn't mean I can always afford it. Then again, Quince lets me indulge in luxury items while still getting them at an affordable price. Quince has everything from high quality everyday essentials like 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters from $50 to Italian leather handbags and 14 karat gold jewelry and more. I'm wearing my latest purchase all the time recently. It's a super soft, cozy and stylish wool quarter zip pullover sweater that I can dress up or down. And no matter what I get from Quince, one of the best things is that all the Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They're able to do that by partnering directly with top factories and cutting out the cost of the middleman passing those savings onto you. Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices too. So give yourself the luxury you deserve with quints. Go to quince.com newsworthy for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com newsworthy to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com newsworthy the newsworthy is also brought to you by Wild Grain. Wild Grain is the first bake from frozen subscription box for artisanal breads, pastries and pastas. Wild Grain's boxes are fully customizable to your tastes and dietary restrictions from their classic variety box to their recently launched gluten free box and plant based box which is 100% vegan. Best of all, they take the hassle out of baking since all items bake from frozen in just 25 minutes or less with no mess or cleanup. Having warm, flaky croissants to wake up to with a cup of coffee is such a delight. I especially love having these in the freezer for whenever we have out of town guests I can just pop them in the oven and voila. Not to mention Wild Grain's amazing hand cut fresh pastas that make dinner time feel fancy, yet keeps it so quick and easy. Are you ready to bring all your favorite carbs right to your doorstep? Be sure to check out Wild Grain so you can begin building your own box of artisanal breads, pastas and pastries. For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off their first box, plus free croissants in every box when you go to wildgrain.comnewsworthy to start your subscription. You heard me. Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.comnewsworthy that's wildgrain.comnewsworthy or use the promo code newsworthy at checkout. Okay, now back to our conversation.

[Interviewer]

You say in your book that America is not at its today despite what some people are out there saying. And you gave the example of when lawmakers were literally violent toward each other and people were literally enslaved. So can you speak more about that? You know, regardless of your political ideology, America is not at its worst today.

[Sharon McMahon]

Well, we certainly are living in some unprecedented times, right? Haven't you seen the memes that are like, I would like to have some precedented times? That is, that's what I would like to order on the menu. Precedented times. So I certainly want to acknowledge that we have some very unique problems as a country right now, some unique challenges facing us. But when we look back against the sweep of history, when we look back to the early 19th century and we find examples of lawmakers on the floor of Congress literally, not figuratively Literally beating each other nearly to death with fireplace tools, with a cane, with, you know, whatever they could grab at their disposal. One of the people was badly enough beaten that he was out of office for years. It took him years to recover from the injuries he sustained on the floor of Congress. And the fight was over whether or not it should remain legal to own other human beings. And so the fact that women can vote and women are not being legally enslaved in the United States, those two facts right there add up to a lot of progress having been made throughout history. Again, I'm not. I'm not downplaying the challenges we have now, but are we nearly beating each other to death on the floor of Congress over whether or not it is acceptable to own humans? No, we are not.

[Interviewer]

You often talk about Septima Clark.

[Erica Mandy]

She stood out to you for her.

[Interviewer]

Ability to work with her enemies, which also seems relevant today.

[Erica Mandy]

Can you speak more about that?

[Sharon McMahon]

Yeah, man. Aren't we in a moment where we're like, if we disagree, you're dead to me. Right? You know, like, delete, block, unfriend. We're not the same person. We can't be friends. And I'm not. I'm not saying you need to accept your enemy's viewpoints. That's not what I'm saying. And that's not what Septima was saying. Septima certainly did not agree with what her enemies were saying when it came to things like legal segregation. But what she did know, and what I think people have forgotten, is that most of the important change that has happened in US History, I'm thinking about the Civil Rights act, the Voting Rights act, the 19th Amendment, things that really moved the needle for women and for other minority groups. People of different stripes had to work together to make those things happen. If we want long lasting change, we have to be willing to work with people with whom we disagree on other things. We have to be willing to say we disagree on nearly everything. But I think where we could get something done together is on, you know, juvenile justice reform. We disagree on nearly everything, but I think we can work together to make sure that the bridges in America don't collapse. We can find areas of common ground. That's not to say that we ignore the issues that we disagree on. We should work on those, too, in a different way. But the idea that we can't work with our enemies because we disagree, that is not supported by the historic record. There is no evidence that that will lead us anywhere worth going.

[Erica Mandy]

And I think in one of your.

[Interviewer]

Recent newsletters, you Talked about even Congress, despite it feeling like lawmakers in Congress disagree about everything. If you look at the research, there actually has been a lot of agreement even within Congress.

[Sharon McMahon]

Yeah, those things, those moments of bipartisanship are not well publicized because they don't make the coffers go cha ching with new money. They don't make viral moments on TikTok. So nobody is like, wow, they work together. Amazing. Viral. You know, we. Moments that go viral are often moments of outrage. We're like, we can't believe that you did that or said that. So it's understandable that these moments are often hidden from us. And people in Congress talk about the differences between the show ponies of Congress and the workhorses of Congress. And it is the workhorses of Congress who are out here, actually, the ones who are writing and moving legislation across the aisle, that actually gets things done. Almost all legislation that is passed today has to be bipartisan. There is no party that has such strong majorities that they can overcome the minority party. So any time you see something that is headed to the President's desk, it is almost always a result of bipartisanship.

[Interviewer]

Although acknowledging fewer laws are being passed now than in the past.

[Sharon McMahon]

Yes, yes, yes. Congress is. Has the last. Congress was remarkably unproductive. Remarkably unproductive. They spent more time on press conferences than on passing meaningful legislation. That's absolutely true.

[Erica Mandy]

What would you say about the state.

[Sharon McMahon]

Of women's rights today in the United States? I think we've made a tremendous amount of progress. Certainly there are a variety of viewpoints about reproductive rights, and many people feel upset or like we're going backwards in time when it comes to reproductive rights. And I certainly want to acknowledge that that is a very real point of contention that is ongoing in the United States. And. But in terms of things like education, we've made a tremendous amount of progress. There are more women in college than men in college. It's not weird to be a woman in college anymore. It's not weird to be a woman in medical school. Where we still have progress to be made is in the boardroom at the helm of the. Of large companies. By the way, women who are the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, their companies statistically outperform those led by men. Women who are physicians, especially female surgeons, their patients have better outcomes than men do. This is not to say that men can't be good surgeons or leaders, but we still have a lot of progress to make when it comes to equal representation in elected office, equal representation in the top Tiers of leadership. We still have not had a woman president, obviously. Yes, we've made a lot of progress in the last 100 years, but we still have a lot of progress left to make.

[Interviewer]

Circle back to ordinary people making a difference. You know, whatever it is for you, women's rights or another cause, what is your advice for how people can have that impact that we've been talking about?

[Sharon McMahon]

I think the first thing is really to understand what does it mean to you to make an impact. We think impact means being Taylor Swift or Oprah Winfrey and that if we're not going to be Taylor Swift, then we're not going to have an impact. I think we think impact needs to be moving the national culture in some way or passing a federal law in some way, that those are the only ways to make an impact. And some of the stories in my book, and there are thousands more stories, we can all think of a single individual who made a huge difference in our personal lives. A teacher, a neighbor. We can all say, my life was changed for the better because of that one person. So we need to ask ourselves, what does it even mean to make an impact? And I think we need to disabuse ourselves of the notion that air quotes. Having an impact means we need to be famous. That is not the definition of having an impact, being nationally famous. And the next thing I would encourage people is stop trying to go it alone. There are already hundreds, if not thousands of organizations that somebody can join that have incredible community, that have built in, know how, that have the organization that have the resources, that have the context, that are making progress on issues that matter to you.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And to that point, commenting and arguing on social media is probably not the best way to have an impact.

[Sharon McMahon]

Yeah. Guess what? Arguing on the Internet is not activism. Arguing on the Internet is not activism. We feel activated. There's a difference, though, between feeling activated and actually engaging in activism on the causes we care about. So we think that, like, oh, you're, you know, making the little nasty comments on Facebook or Instagram, like, if I feel good for 30 seconds. But ultimately, no one goes to bed with food in their bellies. Ultimately, no animals are rescued. Ultimately, you know, no voting rights are maintained as a result of leaving the nasty Facebook comments. So we need to be honest with ourselves about whether we're wasting our own precious time, our most valuable resource, whether we're wasting our own precious time getting activated instead of engaging in activism.

[Erica Mandy]

Thank you so much to Sharon McMahon. Be sure to check out her podcast. Here's where it gets interesting. And grab her New York Times bestselling book, the Small and the Mighty for a fascinating read on the overlooked people who have shaped American history. Learn [e-mail] thank you for joining us today and listening. If you enjoyed this episode, we always appreciate it when you help spread the word. And don't forget, we keep you updated on the news of the day every weekday with our Fast Fair fun Daily News roundups Monday through Friday. So we'll be back on Monday with all the news you need to. Until then, have a great rest of the weekend.