THE FIRST FORTY YEARS INTRODUCTION by Susan Stamberg
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THE FIRST FORTY YEARS INTRODUCTION by Susan Stamberg Shiny little platters. Not even five inches across. How could they possibly contain the soundtrack of four decades? How could the phone calls, the encounters, the danger, the desperation, the exhilaration and big, big laughs from two score years be compressed onto a handful of CDs? If you’ve lived with NPR, as so many of us have for so many years, you’ll be astonished at how many of these reports and conversations and reveries you remember—or how many come back to you (like familiar songs) after hearing just a few seconds of sound. And you’ll be amazed by how much you’ve missed—loyal as you are, you were too busy that day, or too distracted, or out of town, or giving birth (guess that falls under the “too distracted” category). Many of you have integrated NPR into your daily lives; you feel personally connected with it. NPR has gotten you through some fairly dramatic moments. Not just important historical events, but personal moments as well. I’ve been told that a woman’s terror during a CAT scan was tamed by the voice of Ira Flatow on Science Friday being piped into the dreaded scanner tube. So much of life is here. War, from the horrors of Vietnam to the brutalities that evanescent medium—they came to life, then disappeared. Now, of Iraq. Politics, from the intrigue of Watergate to the drama of the Anita on these CDs, all the extraordinary people and places and sounds Hill-Clarence Thomas controversy. And raw emotion, from heroics and and sagas come back again, make grand reappearances, and help heartbreak in New York on 9/11 to a couple in Chengdu, China searching us remember where we were when... and how NPR let us experience for their family in the rubble of a devastating earthquake. There are aural and understand it. salutes to creativity— from the outrageous Little Richard to the unique observations of David Sedaris. Whimsy is here too—or at least evidence I’ve always felt that my microphone was a kind of magic wand, waved that we’re not always so serious: wander into a dark closet to see if against silence. With it, I could bring pieces of days and ideas and Wint-O-Green® Life Savers® make sparks when chewed. Get driving explanations to my listeners. All of the radio broadcasters on these lessons from Click and Clack. Try to keep a straight face when Dame CDs wield such wands. With them, and through the particular magic Edna takes over the microphone. that is radio, they’ve caught stories that might not have been told. Now, here, the stories are told again. And again and again, if you should wish! These slices of life from radio—that most intimate medium—are first-draft accounts, in sound, of four decades of history. On radio— THE FACES OF NPR Susan Stamberg, Terry Gross, Ivan Watson David Folkenflik, Robert Siegel, Jay Kernis, Michele Norris Jean Cochran, President Carter & Corey Flintoff, Michel Martin, Elizabeth Blair, Alex Chadwick & Lynn Neary, Daniel Schorr Cookie Monster, Cokie Roberts, Tom Gjelten Nina Totenberg, Renée Montagne & Scott Simon, Alex Chadwick, Steve Inskeep, All Things Considered 1974 Carl Kasell, Anne Garrels, Scott Simon Peter Breslow, Robert Siegel, NPR Board of Directors 1970s, Noah Adams & Linda Wertheimer, Ari Shapiro, Linda Wertheimer, Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, Guy Raz Ira Flatow, Melissa Block Michele Norris, Renée Montagne, Susan Stamberg, Bob Boilen, Cokie Roberts, Linda Wertheimer, Carl Kasell, Peter Sagal, Peter Sagal & Carl Kasell Christopher Joyce Nina Totenberg, Scott Simon Tom Gjelten, Ravi Shankar & Susan Stamberg CD 1 1970s 1 Introduction by Susan Stamberg (1:43) 7 Aftermath of Three Mile Island (7:45) All Things Considered, April 8, 1979 2 May Day Demonstration in Washington Against the Vietnam War (11:01) Cokie Roberts drives to the heart of the disaster, where she encounters All Things Considered, May 3, 1971 a grave uncertainty faced by many victims of the unprecedented The very first broadcast ofAll Things Considered featured eyewitness nuclear accident. accounts of the largest antiwar protest in the history of Washington, DC. 8 John Henry Faulk on the Bicentennial (4:25) 3 Life Savers® Give Off Sparks (4:04) Celebration ‘76, July 4, 1976 All Things Considered, July 26, 1979 A master storyteller and First Amendment advocate reflects In the name of science, Susan Stamberg and Ira Flatow famously on America’s bicentennial. put a long-running debate to rest. 9 Pickle Ranch: Family Run (4:38) 4 Special Coverage of President Nixon’s Resignation (4:26) All Things Considered, May 14, 1979 All Things Considered, August 8, 1974 Scott Simon reports from Eastern Michigan on a very special ranch Susan Stamberg and Mike Waters host a live call-in show as citizens share in the heart of pickle country. divided views in reaction to the news of President Nixon’s resignation. 10 Life at the South Pole (12:45) 5 Nazi Demonstration at Marquette Park (8:44) All Things Considered, December 19, 1979 All Things Considered, July 9, 1978 Ira Flatow ventures to Antarctica, where important research is carried Scott Simon reports from the scene of a Nazi march in Chicago, IL. out under extreme conditions. 6 Robert Krulwich and the $5 Bill (6:13) 11 Sunset (4:24) All Things Considered, January 5, 1977 All Things Considered, June 10, 1971 Robert Krulwich takes a hard-boiled look at the secrets buried within Mike Waters equates the glories of an evening sunset with a theatrical the fabric of the inconspicuous Lincoln note. production, and gives it a glowing review. CD 2 1980s 1 Introduction by Noah Adams (1:06) 7 Yuppie Anguish: A Concept for the ‘80s (2:29) All Things Considered, July 9, 1985 2 Watching a Solar Eclipse with Your Head in a Box (3:11) Ian Shoales of Duck’s Breath Mystery Theatre ponders the phenomenon All Things Considered, May 30, 1983 of materialism, yuppies and Madonna. Susan Stamberg and Noah Adams take a cardboard box to the roof of NPR headquarters to watch a solar eclipse. 8 Jim Crow: Blacks Survived with Dignity (2:40) All Things Considered, January 15, 1984 3 Revolution in Prague (13:02) Commentator Vertamae Grosvenor talks about growing up during Weekend Edition Saturday, December 9, 1989 segregation. Alex Chadwick captures the spirit of the Czechoslovakians in his eyewitness account of the Velvet Revolution. 9 Challenger Disaster (2:32) All Things Considered, February 20, 1986 4 Fridays with Red: A Retrospective (3:25) Daniel Zwerdling reports on efforts by Morton Thiokol rocket engineers Morning Edition, November 5, 1999 to abort the ill-fated Challenger mission. Walter “Red” Barber spent decades calling baseball games and cat-bird fights, and most of the 1980s visiting with Bob Edwards 10 Roger Boisjoly, Morton Thiokol Engineer (4:40) on Morning Edition. All Things Considered, April 16, 1987 Howard Berkes speaks to Roger Boisjoly, one of the Morton Thiokol 5 Miniskirt: Fashion Industry Mistake (3:12) engineers who tried to stop the Challenger launch. Morning Edition, March 11, 1988 Nina Totenberg trains her legal eye on the latest fashion transgression. 11 Goodbye, Saigon (25:35) All Things Considered, April 29, 1985 6 Little Richard, the Quasar of Rock (5:23) Remembrances of the fall of Saigon from those who managed Morning Edition, October 5, 1984 the difficult evacuation, and those who were left behind. Bob Edwards interviews musical legend Little Richard. CD 3 1990s 1 Introduction by Renée Montagne (:44) 7 President Clinton Interview (4:45) All Things Considered, January 21, 1998 2 Driving Lesson with Click and Clack (7:09) Robert Siegel and Mara Liasson talk with President Bill Clinton about Weekend Edition, June 22, 1996 allegations that he had an affair with a White House intern—and a Car Talk’s Tom and Ray Magliozzi let student driver Scott Simon take possible cover-up. the wheel as they share some laughs—and a few rules of the road. 8 Objects of Affection (3:54) 3 Clarence Thomas Accused of Sexual Harassment (7:59) All Things Considered, August 19, 1998 Weekend Edition Sunday, October 6, 1991 Inspired by the necktie given as a gift from Monica Lewinsky to President Nina Totenberg breaks a story that dominated the headlines in the Clinton, Steve Inskeep explores what other people do with the presents ‘90s and continues to affect the nomination process of potential Supreme they receive from former spouses and lovers. Court justices. 9 Chris Rock Interview (7:09) 4 Prom Night (8:51) Fresh Air with Terry Gross, February 6, 1997 All Things Considered, June 21, 1994 Terry Gross sits down with cutting-edge comedian Chris Rock and sheds some Ira Glass tags along with a group of students taking part in the great light on what makes the funny man tick. American rite of passage—prom night. 10 Adolescence in War-Torn Bosnia (8:18) 5 Dorothy West and the Harlem Renaissance (9:58) All Things Considered, August 26, 1993 All Things Considered, March 6, 1995 Irena Milic introduces Scott Simon to the social and psychological hurdles Susan Stamberg revisits the remarkable career of Dorothy West and tours a teenage girl faces living in a war zone. Martha’s Vineyard with the island’s most illustrious woman of letters. 11 Santaland Diaries (8:52) 6 Rwanda Carnage Claims Over 500,000 Lives (9:57) Morning Edition, December 23, 1992 All Things Considered, June 13, 1994 David Sedaris makes a special connection with NPR listeners when he A country of killers and a country of victims.