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Did you know that Walter Cronkite is so identified with the news business that in Sweden an anchorman is called a "Kronkiter"? And speaking of anchorman, did you know that word was coined in the 1950s to define Cronkite’s role on broadcast TV? Neither did we. Perhaps because none of it is true. Ben Zimmer, executive producer of the Visual Thesaurus, traced some of the myths surrounding the man who was once the most trusted in America.
Most obituaries of Rosa Parks focus on the story we all know: how the humble seamstress changed history by refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. But while that account is accurate, it's only part of her story. In this interview we originally aired in 2005, Bob talks with Duke historian Tim Tyson about the construction of an American hero.
David Foster Wallace died last Friday at the age of 46. Known best as a fiction writer, he was also a journalist who wrote singular pieces about subjects as varied as porn industry awards, tennis-as-religion, luxury cruises, presidential campaigning, talk radio stamina, Midwestern wind patterns and lobster sentience. Pomona College professor Kathleen Fitzpatrick remembers Wallace’s point of view.
In his 84 years Tony Schwartz produced over 30,000 recordings, thousands of groundbreaking political ads, media theory books and Broadway sound design, invented the portable recorder, delivered hundreds of lectures and had full careers as an ad executive and a pioneering folklorist. And he did it all without leaving his zip code. Schwartz died in June and we offer a piece from the Kitchen Sisters, looking back at his life spent listening.
NBC News Washington bureau chief and moderator of “Meet the Press,” Tim Russert died Friday at the age of 58.
In his new book, What Happened, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says he was misinformed and misled and, surprise, so too were the American people. Too little, too late?
When news happens, and even when it doesn't, Rachel Maddow is there to discuss it. She has a radio show on Air America and often appears on MSNBC as a sidekick, guest, or panelist. Maddow gives a pundit's-eye-view of Tuesday's primary coverage and discusses the compromises of professional punditry.
Think you know reality? Ayn Rand did, and through her novels and nonfiction she gave legions of followers a practical philosophy by which to live. Brooke looks at the enduring legacy of the original Objectivist.
