Introducing The World We Want

I’m Jill Jonassen, host of The World We Want.

I wanted to introduce myself before I get the show started with the first guests (that will be next week!) so you can understand my “why” for creating The World We Want.

I grew up in a small town in Indiana in a conservative Christian home. It was just assumed that I was a Republican. I voted for my first presidential election when I was in college. When my dad called me to ask if I had voted, he also asked me if I had voted for the right person.

Over the years I hadn’t paid too much attention to politics, I was busy living my life and raising the two most incredible humans on the planet (I’m not biased at all!). But that all changed in 2016 when Trump came on the scene. The more words that came out of his mouth, the more disgusted I became.

And then when he said that he grabs women by the “you know what”, I thought well no women will vote for him now, we’re good.

The night of the election I put my daughter to bed (she was 7 at the time) and I told her that when she woke up we would have our first woman president.

Then, I went to bed without a care in the world until my husband woke me up to tell me that Trump had won. I couldn’t believe it. I wore all black to the bus stop the next day because I was in mourning.

How did this happen? What did I not know about my fellow Americans that they could vote for this man?

That’s when I got curious. I read a lot of books, I watched a lot of films, I started following activists. And I started observing the world around me more closely. I live in a suburb in Ohio with a good school district. My neighborhood is lined with sidewalks, nice landscaping, and I can walk to our neighborhood park and pool within 10 minutes. It’s a lovely place to raise a family. But most of us had been walking around with our heads in the sand unaware of our country’s history and the future it’s heading towards.

Now that I had lifted my head out of the sand, I couldn’t put it back. Even though there have been times I have desperately wanted to do just that.

In 2022, I left my cushy corporate job to work for a small progressive non-profit as a story producer. I created videos, hosted conversations, narrated podcasts, and interviewed tons of people (mostly women) with the intention of trying to wake people up to what our country could look like if we did not stop extremists now.

Again, I could not believe that my fellow Americans voted for Trump to be our president for a second time.

I felt deflated. I sobbed watching Kamala Harris’ concession speech on tv while my 13 year old son embraced me.

How did this happen again?

A few days later when I was talking to my husband about it, I started spiraling. He stopped me and told me that he was scared too. (I needed to hear that because I need to hear that I was not alone). He also told me that we could not let ourselves give into despair and that we needed to continue to live our lives experience joy. (I also needed to hear that).

And I have a feeling that you do too.

Writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin said, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

I hold onto these words tightly.

We have to face the history of this country and how it got us here. And we have to face where we are in this moment in time.

Also, we have an incredible opportunity in this moment. We can start creating something new.

It was poet and activist Andrea Gibson that said, "We have to create; it is the only thing louder than destruction."

Enter my new show The World We Want.

It starts with that question. What is the world we want?

For example: I want a world with humane immigration policies, well-funded public schools, and a fair maps.

My guests will be people who are actively creating the world we want.

And my hope for you, the audience, is that you will see that it’s possible to build a better world.

Because we are no good to the future of this country if we give into despair.