{"id":2351927,"date":"2026-03-30T20:32:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2351927"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:32:06","slug":"usha-vance-podcast-what-to-know-about-storytime-with-the-second-lady-national-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/usha-vance-podcast-what-to-know-about-storytime-with-the-second-lady-national-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Usha Vance Podcast: What to Know About \u2018Storytime with the Second Lady\u2019 | National News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"ad-in-text-target\">\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>The second lady has taken on a new project to address the country\u2019s decline in literacy rates among children. She also opened up about private discussions \u2013 and sometimes, disagreements \u2013 with her husband, Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>\u201cStorytime with the Second Lady\u201d is Usha Vance\u2019s new podcast released Monday on YouTube and Spotify. She described the podcast as \u201can advertisement for reading\u201d and a venture to \u201cget people thinking about books again as a form of entertainment\u201d in a wide-ranging <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/jd-vance\/usha-vance-disagreements-jd-vance-2028-costco-rcna265622\"><u>interview<\/u><\/a> with NBC ahead of the podcast launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>The last time the National Center for Education Statistics collected data for the \u201cNation\u2019s Report Card,\u201d 40% of fourth-grade students performed <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nagb.gov\/news-and-events\/news-releases\/2025\/nations-report-card-decline-in-reading-progress-in-math.html\"><u>below the basic reading level<\/u><\/a>. This 2024 figure was the highest since 2002. \u201cThis is really a long-term trend, not just a pandemic-related thing,\u201d said Vance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>Each episode of \u201cStorytime with the Second Lady\u201d will be a 10-15 minute read aloud of a children\u2019s book by a special guest. The first episode is the exception, where Vance reads \u201cThe Tale of Peter Rabbit\u201d herself. The following two episodes, all released Monday, feature former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick reading Disney\u2019s \u201cCars\u201d and paralympic medalist Brent Poppen reading his own book, \u201cPlayground Lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>Children in late preschool through early elementary school are the video podcast\u2019s target audience, which is filmed in a studio designed by Vance and her three children (ages 4, 6 and 8). Vance said her experience teaching her own kids to read was part of her inspiration for starting the podcast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>The White House and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X to promote the new podcast, and as of press time it had already grown to more than 700 YouTube subscribers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><react-trigger trigger=\"view\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Generic360KioskEmailEnhancement__Container-sc-3xsnnk-0 cUGxkl\">\n<div class=\"KioskFirstClass__Container-sc-1mwqbdq-0 jtSruO\">\n<div class=\"KioskFirstClass__FlexWrap-sc-1mwqbdq-1 chRmxq\">\n<div class=\"KioskFirstClass__ContentWrapper-sc-1mwqbdq-6 iAEpfd contentWrapper\">\n<div class=\"mb1\"><picture class=\"Image__Picture-sc-412cjc-0 inFBuE\"><\/picture><\/div>\n<p class=\"Heading-sc-1w5xk2o-0 dICjjo\">Sign Up for U.S. News Decision Points<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1iyax29-0 dvECaf\">Your trusted source for breaking down the latest news from Washington and beyond, delivered weekdays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph-sc-1iyax29-0 hvIgej mt4\">By clicking &#8220;Sign Up&#8221;, you will receive the latest updates, including emails, from U.S. News &amp; World Report and our trusted partners and sponsors, and you agree to our<!-- --> <!-- --> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" tabindex=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/info\/features\/terms\" class=\"Anchor-byh49a-0 eJfHCu\">Terms and Conditions<\/a> &amp; <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" tabindex=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/features\/info\/privacy\" class=\"Anchor-byh49a-0 eJfHCu\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/react-trigger><\/p>\n<p><h2><b>Vance\u2019s Role as Second Lady\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>In her interview with NBC, Vance also spoke about juggling responsibilities as a mother and the second lady. The Vances announced in January that they are expecting a baby boy in July, making them the first vice presidential family since the 1870s to have a child while in office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>And while she is not a policy adviser, the first Hindu and Indian American second lady said her husband comes to her for advice on issues that are \u201cintensely personal or important personally.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>Vance admitted that she and the vice president \u201cabsolutely\u201d have disagreements, but would not elaborate on where their beliefs clash. \u201cThere\u2019s no expectation that we are going to see eye to eye on everything,\u201d Vance said. Their differences do allow them to have \u201copen-minded\u201d discussions, however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>The second lady was a registered Democrat until at least 2014, and began voting Republican in 2022 when her husband ran for Senate: \u201cI was myself in 2014. I can be myself today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>Vance acknowledged that her views don\u2019t always fit perfectly on either end of the political spectrum: \u201cSometimes I have thoughts that fit very comfortably into one side or another. Sometimes I have views that are way more idiosyncratic,\u201d she said. But she didn\u2019t elaborate on what those views actually are.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Raw-slyvem-0 jDbFwb\">\n<p>And while the vice president remains embroiled in all of the news of the day, the second lady is focused on storytime with the youngest Americans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><react-trigger trigger=\"view\"><\/p>\n<div spacing=\"5\" class=\"Box-w0dun1-0 PhotoGalleryEmbed__AnimatedBox-lqudj4-0 cekazg iGURYT PhotoGalleryEmbed-lqudj4-22 bSxACD PhotoGalleryEmbed-lqudj4-22 bSxACD\">\n<div spacing=\"5\" class=\"Box-w0dun1-0 dYdQiR\">\n<p><h3 class=\"Heading-sc-1w5xk2o-0 ldfkZd\">Photos: \u2018No Kings&#8217; Protests <\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"Box-w0dun1-0 SlideshowEmbed__PictureWrap-fkpjfn-2 kgGopo eMSebg\"><picture class=\"Image__Picture-sc-412cjc-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/object\/image\/0000019d-3af2-ddb4-afdd-3afac9050001\/nokings-01.jpg?update-time=1774811204610&amp;size=responsive640\" alt=\"Kymone Freeman holds an American flag while demonstrators stream past him over the Frederick Douglass Bridge during the No Kings protest in Washington, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Tom Brenner)\" class=\"Image__PictureImage-sc-412cjc-1 bBgODV Image-sc-412cjc-2 SlideshowEmbed__Picture-fkpjfn-0 kQDDcT bUlaJL\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/react-trigger><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usnews.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The second lady has taken on a new project to address the country\u2019s decline in literacy rates among children. She also opened up about private discussions \u2013 and sometimes, disagreements \u2013 with her husband, Vice President JD Vance. \u201cStorytime with the Second Lady\u201d is Usha Vance\u2019s new podcast released Monday on YouTube and Spotify. She [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2351928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[456489,362802,23032,36044,23522,22048,456490,344658],"class_list":["post-2351927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-davi-schulman","tag-j-d","tag-media","tag-national-news","tag-podcasts","tag-politics","tag-usha","tag-vance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Usha-Vance-Podcast-What-to-Know-About-\u2018Storytime-with-the.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2351927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2351929,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2351927\/revisions\/2351929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2351928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2351927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2351927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2351927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}