{"podcast":{"title":"Lead Balloon - Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communications Stories","slug":"lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","podcast_index_feed_id":257456,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/leadballoon","website_url":"https://www.podcampmedia.com/leadballoon","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/f7f1c742-fa62-11e9-a703-bfe81ccf5509/image/9b1c2168a9233fc4f00a55bbf69dbcc9.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Podcamp Media","episode_count":75,"summary":"Compelling tales from the world of public relations, marketing and branding, told by the well-meaning communications professionals who lived them. Lead Balloon is like Freakonomics for communicators and media consumers. It's a show where we tell stories from communications industry leaders, brands that everyone knows and loves (or hates), and spectacular PR disasters. With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis (nominated for \"Best Indie Podcast Host\" at the 2026 Podcast Academy awards) revisits epic PR disasters, intense communications scenarios, professional inflection points and notable campaigns we all remember, and usually finds a reason to chuckle. Because sometimes, there are important lessons to be learned from someone else's worst day. And sometimes, it's just more convenient than group therapy. Lead Balloon is an award-winning program, named by Adweek as \"Marketing Podcast of the Year,\" nominated for a Webby award and nominated twice for \"Best Business Podcast\" in the Podcast Academy awards. Tune in monthly for new episodes. Visit podcampmedia.com/leadballoon to learn more.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-30T22:19:04.768864+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456"},"episode":{"title":"51. The Legend of Dukakis in a Tank: White House Comms Pros Talk Presidential Optics, with Josh King and Kevin Sullivan","slug":"51-the-legend-of-dukakis-in-a-tank-white-house-comms-pros-talk-presidential-optics-with-josh-king-and-kevin-sullivan","published_at":"2024-10-02T10:07:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/51-the-legend-of-dukakis-in-a-tank-white-house-comms-pros-talk-presidential-optics-with-josh-king-and-kevin-sullivan","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456","url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM3857775231.mp3?updated=1733865145","audio_url":"https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/PDM3857775231.mp3?updated=1733865145","summary":"The image of 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis riding in a tank has become synonymous with abject public relations failure. For marketers and PR practitioners, it serves as an enduring reminder of the power that our mistakes have to burn down powerful people and institutions in one moment of lapsed judgment. And in the spirit of the upcoming election, in this episode we'll explore what led up to the catastrophe, and its lasting impact on the world of public relations and marketing, with one Democrat and one Republican, both of whom worked in the White House. Josh King was a junior staffer on the campaign trail for Team Dukakis '88. He went on to serve as White House events director under Democratic President Bill Clinton. And Kevin Sullivan was the White House spokesman under the 43rd president, Republican George W. Bush. Together, they'll shed light on the political legend of Dukakis in a tank, offer up a glimpse behind the scenes of the Clinton and Bush administrations, and remind us of a few other times when the republic teetered on the brink of PR calamity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"The image of 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis riding in a tank has become synonymous with abject public relations failure. For marke…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2839,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/episodes/51-the-legend-of-dukakis-in-a-tank-white-house-comms-pros-talk-presidential-optics-with-josh-king-and-kevin-sullivan/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/lead-balloon-marketing-public-relations-and-strategic-communications-stories-257456/51-the-legend-of-dukakis-in-a-tank-white-house-comms-pros-talk-presidential-optics-with-josh-king-and-kevin-sullivan.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}