YouSaid · the spoken record

Jacinda Ardern

lines on the record: 101
first: 2025-06-03
most recent: 2025-06-03
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I was 18 years old. I mean, surprised I was on the debate team. Shocking as I know that will be for people. And so, my training, And so I thought, I'm going to do that with the book. I read it aloud several times. It was after I recorded the audiobook. I remember standing back from it and thinking, you know, that is the best that I could have done. And I think actually that's how I felt after I left office. I did my best. And I think when you're someone who does suffer from a confidence gap, that in itself is actually a pretty significant achievement to say actually I know I did my best”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I read it aloud several times, probably because you know, I'm not an author. I considered myself a speechwriter. I would write all my major speeches”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And also to demonstrate that it is a successful way to lead and that there is support for that way to lead from voters from the public for the people that we serve.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“After I left office, I never particularly saw myself moving into the space of talking about leadership. I thought there are people who have studied this, it's their life's work, you know, just because I've been a leader doesn't mean I'm an expert in it. But, you know, when I sat down and worked through, what would have made a difference for me as a leader having that network of others who understand what it is to be in politics and to be leading empathetically and with a particular view of leadership, it would have made a real difference to me to have a network of others who were doing the same. And I know as I've talked about that there are leaders out there who are leading in that way and may benefit from having that network. And so I started field. It's a year-long fellowship program for people who are working in and around politics who believe in empathetic leadership. To just support them in their endeavors, just provide that network to help them keep going.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And so I do. I think it's incredibly important that we find ways to remember our shared humanity. And if anything that March 15 taught me was We have that in us, we have that in us, but there are so many things that make that more difficult in this modern age. Now, I cannot determine what will define my time in this place, but I do hope I've demonstrated something else entirely, that you can be anxious, sensitive, kind, and wear your heart on your sleeve. You can be a mother or not. You can be all of these things. And not only can you be here. You can Just like me”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“After the attack in New Zealand on March 15th, one of the things I became really interested in was how do we get to a place where individuals are radicalized to harm and to violence? I wanted to understand how that could happen in our world. And one of the precursors to that, certainly in the academic writing, is this idea of binary thinking. Putting people into groups of good and evil, and the moment that you can put people into those classifications and the moment you dehumanize them, that is when you see acts of terrorism. That's when you see acts of violence.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Got a hyperpartisanship now that I think can be really damaging. It means we don't work together as much. It means we don't listen and engage in respectful debate that we need. And if we are to get back to doing all of those things because we won't solve the climate crisis unless we do, we won't solve the conflict in the Middle East unless we do, we have to rehumanize one another again.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And you know, not with a great plan in mind. He just thought it was a moment in history to capture. And for me, it was a chance to humanize leadership in a moment in time when I think we could all benefit from humanizing one another.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think he only he could have really a broadcaster and so when suddenly I become leader of my party he just picked up his phone and started filming me and you can see in the film I'm not always happy about that.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Answers for everything happening. We're two things. I mean, the The great thing about running a country like New Zealand is that it's small and so you do get to maintain lots of normal things. supermarket shopping and you're from time to time a drop off a nieve. I could still do that from time to time. You're right, the pace, the pace of life suddenly turns off like a tap. But even though the expectation wasn't there anymore, it didn't really change the way it behaved. And so I probably now have an issue now that the book is finished, because for a while, that was At nighttime, I would write, you know, a spear waking moment. I would write. And it's only now after two years that I'm sitting still for a bit and I can tell you my husband doesn't like it. No, I don't think he thinks it suits my personality particularly.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That has always been my least favorite part. I mean, that sounds so silly. My least favorite part of politics is politics. You know, it is. I was always attracted to it because of what you could do. If you want to those idealistic young people who wants to change the world, what better place than politics? It's incredible what you can do with it. And I still... Believe in it now, more so than even when I went in. But the day to day of it is difficult because that's what you have to do in spite of why you're motivated to be there And I know I'm not alone in there. There are people who love the sport. There are people who just love what you can do.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I think when you're in politics, you're trained. You spend years being acutely aware It's part of your job. I didn't want to let people down. I didn't want to disappoint people. And so walking away, yeah, it felt like it was a loneliness and it was a hard decision, but I've never regretted it and I've never felt like it was the wrong one.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know, it was, it was a series of conversations. It was a series of thoughts and moments that culminated in the decision. And once they made the decision, then it just came. It was then just about telling people. And I was, I was...”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I tried to write about the decision, and you can see it's a very iterative thing. And that's because I think that's reality.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Or perhaps in some cases they feel a responsibility to stay. And that is real. I know that to be true because when I talk to a very small group, because I could only talk to a small group about the fact I was considering stepping down, one of the things that was raised, well, we have an election. There are people that are relying on you, and I felt that weight of responsibility so acutely. But actually, that was also the thing that helped me make the decision. If I knew that perhaps I didn't have in reserve what was required for crisis and I'd seen enough of them to know what you required, and if I felt that I was becoming more defensive and maybe that my curiosity wasn't what it used to be, those were signs that it would be irresponsible to stay.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was a range of different trigger points, all of which for me pointed to, am I still the leader I believe I need to be in order to do this job well? I felt like I was becoming a bit more defensive than I wanted to be.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There was no moment, there was no thing. And in fact, I knew when I came to make the announcement that people would. Wonder what is the one thing? And there was no one thing. Sometimes it”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I mean, the point which I made, the decision was a good year after any of that, and there was nothing particular occurring at the time.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, yeah, well, and yet in that moment, what a courageous act it is to be optimistic. And without that, you know, it would have impacted, I think, their survival. Would have. And so”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of mine too It sees optimism as true moral courage. And I think there are so many reasons that resonates with me. One is that I think we treat hope and optimism often as if they're naive. And yet, the way that he talks about optimism is that actually it's a courageous act and it's a deliberate decision And in the circumstances that he was in, when he's quoting lines like this, he was basically stranded in Antarctica with no hope of rescue A sunken ship.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“When you're in politics, people always expect you to spout off all of your political role models, but mine is an intactic explorer who actually failed multiple times. You did not get there. But he saved”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And there just stayed with me the fact that he was someone running a country and an individual moment could be so meaningful to him. So I've been surrounded by great examples and perhaps it started with my parents.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“He was this moment with this Prime Minister huge stature. He was a solid man with such presence, but speaking so softly and quietly about a woman.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“There was an empathy to him, and maybe that came from personal circumstance, but it manifested in the way that he did the job. In New Zealand, we have similar political leaders. I remember as a child our cat was named Norm, and my father named us after a Prime Minister Norman Kirk. And as I grew older, I read a little bit more about him, and he was asked in a prime time interview once. You know, what, you know, his greatest achievement has such an An entree into spouting off whatever policy is a politician you might have, he said the letters that he received after they increased benefits for the most vulnerable. One letter where a woman said she could finally afford shoes, new shoes, and what a relief it was to her.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And to say from time to time I don't know because it's very different than I don't have a plan and you can lead and be open about what you know and what you don't and actually can build trust. FDR was that kind of leader and he communicated so directly to people during crisis during the Depression and wartimes, what he knew and what he didn't know. And I think people built trust around him as a result.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“and have the humility to know that you don't know all the answers and to bring in the people who might and to draw on that. Well, that's a”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Having the right information and, you know, that trait, that trait of imposter syndrome. Drove me to lead like there. There was a strength. The end that was a strength”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“By the people I worked with. This is sitting between me and going to sleep now, this and you. And so for me, that idea of the right decision was never just about instinct and values. It was also about”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I had certain mantras that would run through my head. And the one that was most common was just. This be the right decision, it's be the right decision. And that didn't always mean the most popular decision. I could carry the weight of an unpopular decision if it felt like it was the right one. I could wear a lot If it felt like the right one. But just let it be the right thing to do. You know, one of the strengths of all of those things that I thought would hold me back of a little bit of that self-doubt was actually I would prepare. I would bring in experts. I would use people who had the knowledge and expertise to give me the best possible advice. I would read everything I could about a challenge that was presenting itself and then I would overlay my values and my interests. Yeah, you knew as much”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I see it at lots of different levels. I see it in leadership. I think the president of Mexico at the moment So genuinely focused on the well being of her people through difficult times. I see it in lots of places, but I see it at new incoming MPs, MEPs. We need to shine a light on them because I think people are losing their hope in politics, and yet there are people that they should feel hopeful about.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Optimistic and hopeful. There are other politicians, there are politicians out there and leaders out there who believe in solving those core fundamental problems rather than politicking around them. I see it. I see it. I've met them. I run a fellowship program called Field to support.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The pandemic just exacerbated so much. And I think as leaders, and this is one of the things I talk about a lot, we have options in this environment now. We have the option of actually tackling the core of the difficult problems we have presented to us, which is hard. All we have the option of blaming others, of saying that the cause of the insecurity you feel or the financial insecurity you feel is this group or this group, and that is a quick and easy way to do politics, incite fear. It's the oldest trick in the book, but it is the most harmful and the most damaging. And I talk openly about the alternatives because they exist. There are leaders who champion empathetic leadership who actually want to solve the problems. But what we see a spotlight more often is that alternative I wish so much that we can turn towards”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think importantly, we saved an estimated 20,000 lives. But it came at a cost, you know, for everyone globally. I think there is globally now this unease that the way that we'd experienced the world was upended. Suddenly you could have something that you just didn't see coming in a fundamentally changed your life in an instant. And we already have such a sense of uncertainty in the world, technological developments, the impact of the changing economies that we have, the multiple wars raging. We have a sense of insecurity.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So we would only use lockdowns when there were cases that we couldn't trace. So that's when we would use it. And ultimately, it meant that we had fewer days in lockdown than most countries. And when we were out, we had relative normality.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You're just trying to make the right decisions. And even I think I remember my heart is like Looking out when we did have an occupation on Parliament's grounds and thinking, well they think they're protecting people's lives too, and so do I. We actually want for the same things. We have just come at it from completely different corners and I do spend a lot of time reflecting on it, but I still give myself as much grace as I can that we were motivated by the right things, and that was to save people's lives. For all the thinking I give to what I would have done differently, I would still rather be sitting in front of the public and explaining why perhaps we did too much, rather than why we did too little because the doing too little was the difference between people living and people dying.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And so the only thing that you can, you know, it took me a while to get to this, but the only thing that you can hold on to in those moments is that you know what your motivation is. You know that.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I absolutely agree with you, and it's one of those things that you then realize how much through your life you rely on the ability to still just communicate with someone. And that if you can at least talk to them and you can have that dialogue, then if there is that, you know, that. Bizarre view that someone might have that conspiracy theory that you think you might be able to talk that through.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, exactly, exactly. And so it's hard to feel upset about that. I don't, you know, and when people say, what do you regret? I find that really simplistic because.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Thank you because that one I rewrote and rewrote and rewrote because I was, I was processing it. You know, I came out of COVID and it was I had two goals and I've talked about this a bit. One was to save people's lives, but the other was to keep people together and I didn't achieve both. And I found that so hard. I still find it hard”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“If there is a subterranean space that sits beneath hell. No response was perfect. Populations around the world would have reflections on what they believed their governments did right and what they did wrong. After the pandemic, we put in place a royal commission people to go and ask those questions for us. Look at how we can be better prepared next time.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I'm bad by sharing all of that New Zealanders could see not only the decisions we were making but the choices we had. And I think that made a difference in people supporting the course of action.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Just to be transparent, but also everything we didn't know. And as a result of that, you know, when it came to the point that we made the decision that actually we need to close our borders and see if we can try and keep New Zealand COVID-free till we have another way of protecting people.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, we're like, everyone started with a small number, and that was one of the things when we looked out into the world because we were later in receiving COVID. It took a little longer to get to our shores. Our first case was the 28th of February in 2020. We could see what was happening. And we also knew from modelling what it would mean for our population, tens of thousands of people losing their lives. And I remember being presented with that as a leader. I talk a little bit in the book about how there's so few decisions where you can draw that direct line between your decision and life and death. But a pandemic is one of them. And one of the things that we decided to do really early on was just share everything we knew about this illness. To be completely...”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In our minds, of course, understanding that New Zealand, we are hunters, we have pests, there is a number of reasons why people hold guns. But weapons like that, they're designed to take the lives of a large number of people in quick order. And in this case, they did. And yes, we still have weapons in New Zealand, but we do not routinely now have these ones. And that was, I think, an incredibly important response to this attack.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Just the range of injuries and the scale of injuries. And so I just instinctively knew, and I think MPs knew that New Zealanders would be behind them. And they were. When they cast a vote, 119 of 120 members of parliament supported the banning of military-style semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand. And so when we passed that law, we bought them back. So people who had them, we paid for them. and then we destroyed them.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“He wasn't, he was from Australia and there's a range of things that make things a bit easy when you're from the closeness of our relationship. But we had, he was able. To legally obtain those weapons. And I think that was a shock to New Zealanders that you could so easily access weapons that were able to take the lives of so many so quickly”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And there were two things. One was, well, first of all, we know that he was able to take the lives of so many because he had access to military style semi-automatic weapons, particularly AR-15s. And then it begged the question, well, how was he able to get access to those? And the answer was legally. And I remember in that briefing, which was only the day after the shooting when I received that briefing and was told, he legally obtained those weapons. You know, my immediate instinct was, well, that can't stand. And I had that strong sense that even though I had to consult with other members of parliament to get their support, I just had a sense that New Zealanders would want that to change. And so when I went down to, but he wasn't even from New Zealand.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“In my mind, one of the beautiful things about New Zealand and New Zealand is such a pragmatic people. And every time you see crisis in New Zealand, whether or not it's a weather event or in this case, alongside the care and support you see the community provide, there's that now what can we do? And that is reflected then in an expectation of leaders. What will you do?”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And hearing then in those moments what people needed, they'd lost, in many cases their breadwinner. They may have had in their time a lack of sense of security around their ability to continue to reside in New Zealand. There are a whole range of issues that by having that proximity understood, and true empathy is then actually following through with action. Now that you've seen it, now that you've heard it, what will you do about it? We are here just 26 days after the most devastating of terrorist attacks in New Zealand's history. When I visited the hospitals and the victims, none of them had just one gunshot wound. In every case they spoke of multiple injuries, multiple debilitating injuries I could not feath them how weapons that could cause such destruction and large-scale death could have been obtained legally in this country.”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think only by being in it, and for me in hindsight, taking a bit of time to reflect, I think the important thing about proximity is it allows you to then understand what's needed. Empathy is nothing without action”
2025-06-03 · The Oprah Podcast · Oprah and Jacinda Ardern: A Different Kind of Power · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT