Having a Voice is Not Enough: What Are You Willing to Lose?

Why Stephen Colbert's Final Episode Matters to Leaders Everywhere

On Thursday, May 21st, 2026, Stephen Colbert hosted his final episode of The Late Show, marking the end of an 11-year tenure characterized by unmistakable moral clarity, sharp humor, and public resilience. In this special, reflective episode of Building Leadership Community, host Coach Dora Mendez brings her husband and co-producer, Dylan Rogers, out from behind the scenes to process what this loss means for our culture, our communities, and our understanding of principled leadership. Together, they share their personal story of attending a live taping at the Ed Sullivan Theater in March 2019, examining how Colbert rejected the "safe" late-night lane to build a space where intelligence, social justice, and deep human connection could coexist .

Who This Is For
This conversation is for entrepreneurs, executives, community leaders, and content creators of color and allies who recognize that platforms are a profound responsibility, not an entitlement. If you are navigating leadership during challenging times and looking for blueprint models on how to stay authentic without losing your core values, this episode is a sanctuary for you.

Key Themes

• Platforms as Responsibilities: Moving past the danger of sleepwalking through public-facing work.
• The Dynamics of Trust: How Colbert connected with foreign tourists and local crew members with equal dignity and deep cultural humility .
• Systemic Pressures on Free Speech: Unpacking contemporary media adjustments, from Jimmy Kimmel's brief removal to economic boycotts .
• Intentional Space Creation: Practical advice on how to build organizational cultures where anger and hope can safely coexist.

🔴 TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 - The Responsibility of Having a Platform
• 01:01 - Introduction to Building Leadership Community
• 02:11 - A Personal Love Letter and Eulogy for Late Night
• 03:34 - Walking Into the Ed Sullivan Theater: Our Late Show Story
• 05:51 - Interview with Co-Producer Dylan Rogers: Production and Pacing
• 08:35 - Organic Audiences vs. Coached Television Tapings
• 09:56 - Double Tapings, Jon Batiste, and the March 2019 Experience
• 12:00 - Human Connection and Encyclopedic Cultural Knowledge
• 13:54 - Late Night Going Dark: Free Speech and the 200 Crew Members
• 17:00 - Podcasting Education: The Entrepreneurs Podcast Blueprint Course
• 18:20 - Authenticity vs. Branding: Resisting Authoritarianism through Joy
• 21:10 - Building a Room with Intention in Your Own Organization
• 22:53 - Community Reflections and Final Sign-Off

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Transcript

0:01

I started this podcast because I believe that leadership matters, and because I believe that voices like mine, like yours, like the ones this community amplifies, deserve to be heard in rooms that were not always built for us. But here's what I know. The moment you stop treating your platform like a responsibility, the moment you start assuming that the mic will always be on, that the channel will always be open, that the right to speak will always be protected. That is the moment you start sleepwalking through the most important work you will ever do. Having a voice is not enough. You have to decide what you're willing to say with it and what you're willing to lose for saying it. If you're watching on YouTube, you'll see a photo. This is a photo that was taken at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. That's me. That's my husband. And the reason we're here. The reason that room felt electric before a single camera rolled was because of one man who genuinely believed that showing up with your whole self, with honesty and joy and fire was not just good television. It was an act of leadership. Stephen Colbert and the team at a television program now formerly known as The Late Show. This episode is for you. Roll credits. Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I am the founder and CEO of Coach Dora LLC. Our guests will be entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community leaders that drive social impact. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome back to the Building Leadership Community Podcast, the podcast where we explore the leaders, the moments and the movements that remind us what it looks like to lead with purpose, with courage, with your whole heart. I'm your host, coach Dora mendez. Thank you for coming back week after week. And if you're new to our show, please hit that subscribe button. If you're watching on YouTube, like, share and subscribe. And if you're listening on your favorite audio platform, don't forget to follow us and share this with someone who needs to hear it today. And I am being joined today by a person who makes this episode happen. Every episode happen. My husband and the technical force behind this podcast. My co-producer, Dylan Rogers. Hi. How are you? Hi, honey. So today's episode is a little different. It's personal. It's a love letter and maybe a little bit of a eulogy for something that mattered to millions of people who care about truth, delivered with humor, about inclusion and about the quiet, radical act of refusing to look away when the world needs you to pay attention. Stephen Colbert hosted the last Late Show on Thursday, May 21st, 2026, and we have some feelings about that. Right, honey? So let's talk leadership lessons from Colbert. I want to take a moment and talk about why this matters. For a podcast called Building Leadership Community, because Stephen Colbert was not just a comedian. He was not just a late night host. He was, in my opinion, one of the most consistent public models of what principled leadership looked like an impossible circumstances. Here is where I'll share our Late Show story. I want to take you back in time to the day we walked into 1697 Broadway. The Ed Sullivan Theater. If you've never been to a live taping like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, we highly recommend it. We recommend the experience, and I'll share exactly what that was like in a few minutes. But what I want you to understand is that it was never just about watching a TV show get made. We went as fans, we went as family, and we went because for years and moments that felt genuinely scary for this country. The United States Stephen Colbert's desk was one of the few places on U.S. television where someone with influence on a powerful platform was saying the things that needed to be said with intelligence, with humor, and with unmistakable moral clarity. We sat in those seats knowing we were part of something. And then, before the cameras even started rolling, Stephen Colbert walked out. It was the host conducting a pre taping Q&A. This was the part that I think a lot of people don't know. Stephen Colbert is not someone who phones it in before every taping. He comes out and he talks to the audience, not a warm up comedian. Him, and it sets the entire tone for the night. So I want to bring in Dylan. Hello again. Hey, honey. So I want to bring in Dylan here because we experienced this together, and I think each of us took something different away from it. So, you're my, guest today. The usual format for building leadership community podcast is a interview format. So I'm going to be interviewing you today. How do you feel about that, honey? It sounds good. We've been processing this together, and so we decided to bring it on the show. And when. So I have a couple of questions for you. I love to hear how you're processing all of this. When Stephen walked out before the taping, what was your immediate reaction? What did the energy in the room feel like? Well, I was surprised and delighted. I didn't know really what to expect. And we were sitting, like, kind of on the on the right, close to where the band is. So we had a really good view of the band, which that was really nice. And then Stephen came out and talked to the audience, and I felt like we had a good view. And there there was a good view in every part of the theater, the way it was arranged. It feels a little smaller than what it seems like on TV. You were there as my partner and as someone who watches the show with me, you know? I mean, like, What surprised you most about seeing him in person versus on television? I don't know if I was really surprised, but it was just interesting seeing how they do the show in, segments. And then, you know, of course, we were there like 430 in the afternoon. So let me follow up, I guess from a production standpoint, because you're someone who makes content, you know, you. Yeah. How co-producers show you edit the show and all of that. Since since, you know, you're someone who makes content. What did you notice about how he commanded the room and what did he do that any leader or community or communicator could learn from? Well, he was very engaging with with the audience members sometimes acknowledging individual people in the audience. You know, I thought he kind of like, like led the pacing of what was happening and also acknowledging crew members. And, you know, I don't remember if they did did a second take of anything, but, he was in communication with, with with his crew members as well. Yeah. They didn't I think like pre taping it was just organic. And then during the taping they basically told us everything that was going to happen like even talk to the those I guess it's the stage manager. Right. And or the director and then. And so yeah he'd and then it was very like they just walked us through everything and it, I mean, I've been to other television show tapings and in other shows like I went to a taping, a live taping of The Cosby Show back in the day, I think I was in high school and they had like a warm up comedian and like, they coached us on, like when to clap and when to laugh. And that didn't happen. At this show, it was there was no coaching. They just walked us through like everything that they were doing. And we and they said, if you want to clap if you want or whatever, just go ahead. There was no coaching. There was no like, applause sign. I just remember everything just felt really organic. And they just shared like what we should expect was going on. But there was like no coaching or no. It was just it was just felt very organic. How did you feel about it. Can I tell you one thing that did surprise me? Yes, I asked you, I asked you. Yeah. Well it wasn't something about Stephen Colbert in particular. It was just about the show in general that surprised me. Go ahead. They were taping half of one show and half of another show. Like half of one episode and half of another episode. And then he was very gracious about telling us what was going to happen in the context of, okay, now we're going to do this again for the next episode, and I'm going to come out and we're going to repeat that part. So, so that everything made sense to the audiences. Yeah. Because I think we were on a, on a Thursday that we went and I think on Thursday he tapes like two shows. So that Friday they don't work. So I think I think we got to see two different monologues. Yeah. And they had the television screens towards us so we could see the opening credits. And then we can see, you know, they always do, like some kind of, like bit. So we got to see, like, the bit and then I think in that particular show he has a segment where he reads sometimes they have newspaper articles out. And then I think so we could see the article that he was talking about, so we could see what everyone at home on television would be seeing. So that was kind of cool. Yeah. And you remember, Jon Batiste was still there when we went? Yes. Because it was before Covid. I think we went before Covid and it was 20. What was it, 2019? March 19th, 2019. Yeah. So I think you'll share some photos in this episode and even our ticket like I, I can't believe I still have like our e-ticket. It's oh, but we're on our photos from that occasion. Yeah. Do you have any questions for me? Yeah I do. So was there a specific moment during the Q&A where something he said or did stuck with you, like something that felt less like a TV host and more like a genuine human being in the room with you? Absolutely. I was really impressed. You know, during that open Q&A with the audience, there were tourists, you know, there were tourists, people who were not native New Yorkers in the in the room. And I can't remember what country they were from, but it was someplace far away. I can't remember the country, but I was really impressed by, like, the encyclopedic knowledge that he had about their country. And they were to, like he had mentioned something about the culture, and they were they just seemed like really surprised, but like, really overwhelmed by the fact that he knew, like he understood this about the culture. I can't remember what country it was, but I do remember because and I think the reason why I don't remember the country, because then all of a sudden it felt like he was having a private conversation with this couple. It was a couple, and it just felt like we were witnessing this private conversation, and it felt really intimate, even though he was in the room, you know, in a big theater, just felt like he had these to this Q&A. And he had this way of making, like, everyone he was talking to feel like it was just them. Like, if there was just them in the room. And so it was that was really, really genuine. And I was really impressed by his, like, encyclopedic knowledge of people, the visitors of the tourists like their countries and their cultures. Yeah, that was very impressive. Oh. So what what do we want to share? What do we want to say to someone who has never been to a live taping and is wondering whether it's worth it? What do you take home from that kind of experience? It's it's free. So there's that. And, you know, it's a it's a great experience. The only other taping I had been to before that was, Craig, not Craig Kilborn. Anyway, I can't remember the name of the guy. Was it the Scottish? The Scottish? The one who. The one he used to date, Jennifer Love Hewitt. Oh, Carson Daly. Carson Daly, was that you were really off there. So you talk about Carson Daly. Yeah., this was like 20 years ago. who was on the Today Show. On the morning show here in the in the U.S.. But before he was on MTV, which was international. So he's now on us, a US morning show, the Today show. But yeah, I forgot that he had a show, a late night show. I went there with my cousin when she was visiting. And what did you want to share about that? It was it was kind of interesting. It wouldn't have been our first choice, I guess we wanted to get SNL tickets. Of course. Saturday Night live, Saturday night live. Yeah. Rockefeller gift shop, just to see what we could get. And, you know, it was kind of interesting. I'm trying to remember the the guests. It's kind of escaping my mind. But it was 20 years ago, and it was a nice experience. But, the late night show with Stephen Colbert was definitely far and beyond a more memorable and cherished experience for for both of us, I think. Agreed? Agreed. Is there anything else you want to share about Colbert? The show? How we're processing the Late Night going dark? I don't know, it's just it's just a sign of our times. And it's it's a real shame. And people should, you know, just, we should all wake up and and and be aware of the attack on on free speech. You know, they tried to go after, Jimmy Kimmel. Yeah, they took him off the air for a little while, and everybody canceled their Disney Plus subscriptions. And in reaction. And I know that Stephen Colbert will go on to do other amazing things. I do feel for his crew, 200 or so people that will be, in need of a new a new job. So, you know, I certainly empathize with all of them. Yeah, 200 people lost their jobs. It wasn't just talk shows. It was a whole apparatus. Yeah, I think that's all I had to say. Thanks for having me. I know that you have a lot more to say, and I'm going to throw it over to you now. All right. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for coming out behind the scenes and sharing your thoughts as a content creator and a producer and someone who, who has watched, enjoyed the show with me and helped me process the loss. Yeah. Thanks, Honey. Thank you. So thanks, Dylan, who helps us behind the scenes here, produce a show and produces content. He also teaches a course on how to, you know, start a podcast from scratch. You know, we like to share what we learn with others. If you're interested in learning from us about how we started our podcast, and we always start with mission, like, what's the purpose of it? Like, what is that you want to say and how to develop that? We also talk about all the technical stuff, audio visual, all that stuff. And so that's, Entrepreneurs blueprint, podcast blueprint. And we'll put a link in the description. And if you follow us though, our website is up, you can just visit our website courses and you'll find the entrepreneurs, Podcast Blueprint course. Let's get back to. To late night processing the loss of Late Night. There's a version of late night that plays it safe. That stays in their lane of celebrity interviews and movie clips and not rocking the boat too much. But Colbert rejected that. Especially from 2016 onward. He showed up as himself as a practicing Catholic who always believed in social justice, as a man who has known grief and chose joy anyway as a performer who was clearly terrified some nights and did it anyway. That's authenticity, not a brand, a choice made every single night. So, as you know, we're building leadership community. And when I think about inclusion, I think about his show as being a place where people felt seen. Like Dylan and I talked about how, his genuine interaction with the audience at the show, taping his show was a place where people felt seen, where the audience wasn't just a prop, as we experienced first hand. He talked to us. He listened. He brought guests who weren't just there to plug something, but to actually have conversations. Authors, artists, economists, journalists, politicians, poets alongside the celebrity superstars. He modeled what it looked like to build a room where everyone belongs. Moreover, he personified resistance to authoritarianism. This is the one that I feel most deeply. There were nights where you could feel the weight of what he was carrying, the responsibility of being a voice in the dark. He never stopped. He never normalized what was not normal. He used every tool. He had humor, poetry, satire to remind his audience that their discomfort was appropriate. Their engagement was necessary. That is leadership. I didn't think I was going to get so emotional about this. The world needs more people who will not look away from corruption and authoritarianism. And for 11 years, every weeknight, Stephen Colbert didn't look away. If you follow me, you know I share a personal reflection on my Substack, where I share what I've been sitting with after the final late show. I keep coming back to this. Representation matters not just seeing people who look like you on screen, but seeing people who believe what you believe, who are afraid of, what you're afraid of, and who show up anyway. For a lot of us, The Late Show was that sitting in that theater with Dylan beside me. I felt it. I felt what it was like to be in the room, that someone built with intention. A room that says smart people are welcome here. Complicated feelings are welcomed here. Your anger and your hope can coexist here. We're going to miss that room. But I also think the lesson for all of us. Everyone listening. Everyone building their own community in that you can build that room too. Everyone can build that room. That is the benefit of having a podcast and being on this platform. You can build a room with intention. You can build that room in your organization, in your family, and on your own podcast. The principles are the same. Be honest. Stay curious. Refuse to be indifferent and treat the people in your audience like they matter. Because they do. Because you matter. Your story matters. Your leadership matters. Thank you to all our listeners and viewers for coming back week after week to be inspired. Stay motivated. Stay connected in community, and feel less alone as a leader during these challenging times. Before I let you go, I want to hear from you. Where were you, last Thursday, May 21st? Were you a Late Show fan? Did Stephen Colbert's work matter to you? Have you ever been to a live taping of anything? And what did that experience give you? Even if you weren't a fan of the show, I'd love to hear from you. Drop it in the comments if you're on YouTube or find us on social media, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Substack. Tell us your story and if this episode resonates with you. If you believe, like I do, that authenticity and inclusion and courage to resist what is wrong are not just nice ideas, but the foundation of real leadership. Please share this episode. Send it to someone who needs to hear it today. Let's not take our First Amendment rights for granted. Thank you to my husband, Dylan, for being my person and that theater and everywhere else. Thank you for helping me make this podcast what it is. And thank you, generally from the bottom of my heart to Stephen Colbert for 11 years of showing up. I'm Coach Dora. This is building leadership, community. We'll see you next week. Roll credits. You've been listening to Building Leadership Community. Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts, follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube @CoachDoraM. Visit me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com. Hosted by me, Dora Mendez. Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan Rogers. Graphics, editing, and sound mixing by Dylan Rogers.