Kelly Kennedy is a health policy reporter for USA Today and the author of They Fought for Each Other. Before moderating a panel on how the wars in the Middle East are changing medicine, she talked about two very different forms of inspiration—a 2-year-old’s excitement and being embedded with an infantry unit in Iraq—in the Zócalo green room.
What was the last thing that inspired you?
This morning I was with a 2-year-old who said, “It’s sunny, it’s great, this is the best day ever!” I love that.
Who is your funniest friend or colleague?
Jodi Upton, who’s a sports reporter at USA Today.
What was the most important year of your life?
There have been so many. The most recent most important year was 2007. I embedded in Iraq with an infantry unit, and while I was with them they lost five guys and one female MP [military police officer], and it basically changed the way I reported from then on.
What are you keeping in your closet that you should have thrown out already?
I live in a studio, there’s not much room in my closet! Oh—I have a polyurethane skirt that’s starting to dry rot. That’s gotta go.
How did being in the military prepare you—if at all—for being a journalist?
It made me unafraid. I figured that if I could go out with a grenade launcher, I was probably going to be OK going into an interview.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Ballet classes.
What word or phrase do you use most often?
Holy crap!
What’s the worst city you’ve ever lived in?
Baghdad?
When did you last eat fast food?
I hadn’t for probably 10 years, and the guy I’m dating just made me eat at McDonald’s, like, two weeks ago.
What’s your favorite ballet?
I so adore the music from Sleeping Beauty. It probably is Sleeping Beauty, even if I’m not into dancing peasants.
