Hope King's guest tonight is Sherrie Westin, 66, the new CEO of Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit behind "Sesame Street," TV's longest-running children's show. It's been on air since 1969. They caught up last month in Manhattan for Westin's first interview since taking the job.

• Why she matters: Westin — who's been in senior leadership at Sesame for over 20 years and was a senior official in President George H.W. Bush's administration — is steering Sesame through an increasingly competitive media landscape and polarized world.

1. What have been some of your toughest calls?

• Creating the first-ever HIV-positive Muppet in 2002 for South Africa was controversial in the United States but "the right thing to do in South Africa ... The country wanted and asked for it — it's so important that we're being responsive and not just dictating."

More recently, Sesame's decision to vaccinate Big Bird against COVID attracted accusations it was government propaganda.

• "A fan posted a video of Big Bird being vaccinated in 1979 for measles, and [so] obviously it's not White House propaganda, right? It was what is in the best interest of children. And so ... none of us regretted that for a minute."

🔎 The intrigue: Sesame declined a White House invitation for Big Bird to work with President Biden on a vaccination campaign after the clip went viral, to avoid undermining the organization's nonpartisan credibility.

2. What topics would be taboo for "Sesame Street"?

• "We would never be partisan," she said. Sesame has covered civics lessons, but not related to a specific campaign or election.

3. Sesame's mission is "to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder." What's your definition of kindness?

• It's "about empathy. It's about understanding. It's about respect for differences. It's about children seeing what they have in common with one another."

4. What's an unorthodox dimension of your leadership?

• "I have kind of an irrepressible sense of humor, which can get me in trouble," she said. "You realize that people don't understand you're being facetious."

5. What's your blind spot?

• "I can tend to be impatient," she said, based on "very good instincts and a strong gut."
• "The reason it's so important to be patient is to also go through the process to bring others along. And there may be other inputs that help form a decision. So I think it's so important to have the data to support your gut."

😂 1 fun thing: What Muppet would you be?

• "Grover, because of his irreverence and sense of humor."

More on Westin's leadership style.

The pic du jour, from reader Mary Dowling, shows the first bits of morning light touching Lake Superior as the sun rises over Marquette, Mich.