What Sports Could Teach Washington: Thoughts From Former Virginia Senator George Allen

Bill Thompson

George Allen grew up around football. His father, also named George Allen, was famously an assistant coach with the NFL’s Chicago Bears, and later head coach for the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins.

Spending a lot of time in that atmosphere shaped the young George Allen’s worldview, especially after he entered politics.

First as a State Delegate in Virginia, then as the state’s Governor, and later one term as US senator. There was even a little talk about Alan running for president.

Get your copy of George Allen’s book

Allen frequently used sports analogies when talking politics, or making a point.

So, unsurprisingly perhaps, his 2010 book was called what Washington Can Learn From The World of Sports. I met him one day that summer in his office in Alexandria, Virginia to talk about it.

So here now, from 2010, George Allen.

George Allen is 73 now. He lives in Virginia Beach.

The Memoir of The Puppeteer Who Brought Elmo To Life

Bill Thompson

If you’ve had a small child in your life anytime in the last 30 years or so you know this voice. That’s Elmo, the furry red monster from Sesame Street and one of the most popular Muppet characters ever.

The puppeteer who made Elmo and his giggle famous is a Baltimore native named Kevin Clash.

Growing up in the ‘60s Clash was entranced by everything from Kukla Fran and Ollie to Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. At age 10 he started making his own puppets.

At 19 he was so skilled he joined the Captain Kangaroo show as a puppeteer.

And in 1984 he joined the cast of Sesame Street. Elmo came along a year later, and for the next 27 years Kevin Clash was 3-year-old Elmo.

Get your copy of Kevin Clash’s book

In 2006 Clash wrote an autobiography, a book he called My Life As a Furry Red Monster. That’s when I had the chance to meet him.

So here now, from 2006, Kevin Clash.

Kevin Clash will be 65 this fall. In 2012 he publicly came out as gay

The Magic And Charm of Loretta Lynn: A Conversation With A Music Legend

Bill Thompson

Most of the interviews I did over a 30-year span were aimed at extracting information of one kind or another from my interviewee. An interesting anecdote, perhaps, or some inside scoop about Hollywood or politics or dports.

But on rare occasions, I just threw my notes away and just had a fun conversation. And one of the most fun interviews I ever had was the ten minutes that I had on the phone one day in the fall of 2002 with the great Loretta Lynn.

Get your copy of Loretta Lynn’s book

She had just published her second autobiography, called Still Woman Enough. When I was offered a 10-minute slot with her, I couldn’t wait.

So here now, from 2002, Loretta Lynn.

Loretta Lynn died in 2022. She was 90.

Brandan Robertson’s Message of Inclusion: Being Queer And Christian

Bill Thompson

Brandan Robertson is a young progressive Christian pastor who has built a national reputation as an articulate leader for LGBTQ inclusion.

And for Rev. Robertson it is a personal effort, because he is gay.

In a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack as they haven’t been for decades, Robertson’s nessage of inclusivity is finding a receptive audience on social media. On Tik Tok alone he has over a quarter million followers.

But his outreach is not limited to those in the community. Robertson also speaks to allies, those perhaps with a family member who’s queer, or those who feel uneasy about their own church’s teachings.

Get your copy of Brandan Robertson’s book

And he has just written a book, being published this week, called Queer And Christian. In it, Rev. Robertson seeks not just to reinterpret scripture, but to offer Solace and support to those in the LGTBQ community.

So here now, about to embark on an author tour, Rev. Brandan Robertson.

Brandan Robertson is turning 33 this summer. He serves as pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in Queens, New York.

When Self-Preservation Becomes Self-Sacrifice: America’s Medal of Honor Recipients

Bill Thompson

The Congressional Medal of Honor is America’s highest and most distinguished military award. It recognizes extraordinary courage, valor, and sacrifice. Since the metal was first awarded in the 1860s, only about 3,500 service members have received that honor, many of them posthumously.

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In 2003 the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation published a commemorative book profiling metal honorees.

At the time, the president of the Foundation was retired Air Force Lt. General Nicholas Kehoe, and it was him that I interviewed about the book.

We actually spoke the day before Veterans Day in 2003, as the US was newly embroiled in war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So here now, from 2003 Nicholas Kehoe.

Deer Ann Landers: A Life As Seen By Her Daughter Margo Howard

Bill Thompson

People get a lot of advice from their moms. But very few people have moms who dispense advice the way Margot Howard’s mom did.

Margo is the only child of famed syndicated newspaper advice columnist Ann Landers.

For 47 years Ann Landers cranked out a daily column that millions of people read religiously. For some people that was the first thing or maybe only thing they read in the paper.

And the thing is, Ann Landers always wrote back to the people who wrote to her, even if their letters didn’t appear in the newspaper.

And over the years she wrote a number of letters to her daughter Margo, who saved most of them.

And in 2003 Margo Howard published a book about her famous mom, and those letters. The book was called A Life in Letters. And that’s when I had a conversation with the delightful Margo Howard.

So here now, from 2003, MaGet your copy of Margo Howard’s book
rgo Howard.

Ann Landers died in 2002 at age 83. Margo Howard is now 85. She retired from her career as a columnist in 2013.

The Compelling, And Offbeat, History of Air Force One

Bill Thompson

Air Force One has been in the news a lot lately A lot more than usual, because of the unusual gift of an airplane from Qatar to president Trump.

The history of an official presidential aircraft goes back 80 years. There have, of course, been several aircraft known as Air Force 1, and not all of them were jets.

Longtime White House correspondent Kenneth Walsh was one of the rare individuals who got to fly on Air Force One.

And his fascination with the aircraft, as well as the men who have called it their office in the sky, grew into a 2003 book called simply Air Force One.

Get ready to hear the stories of what the plane is, what it isn’t, what people think it is, and what it definitely is not.

So here now, from 2003 Kenneth Walsh.

How Sir Peter Ustinov Imagined The Ultimate Odd Couple

Bill Thompson

British-born Peter Ustinov was a multi-talented, multi-award-winning actor. Classic movie fans know him well – “Spartacus,” “Topkapi,” both of which earned him an Oscar, but also “Quo Vadis,” “The Sundowners,” and “Hot Millions.”

Photo by Allan Warren

But acting was only part of his Portfolio. Ustinov was also a director, a popular raconteur, and a novelist.

Indeed, the two times that I interviewed him were both conversations about his fiction.

One of those interviews was in 1991. That was the year Peter Ustinov wrote satire imagining God and the devil going on a kind of fact-finding mission in the modern-day world – as humans.

The book was called The Old Man And Mr Smith.

Now, Peter Ustinov described himself as a secular humanist, and his portrayals of God and the devil should be taken in that context.

In any case, I think you’ll find this interview a delight to listen to.

So here now, from 1991, Peter Ustinov.

Peter Ustinov died in 2004 at age 82.

Redefining Freedom and Democracy: Fareed Zakaria

Bill Thompson

Most Americans might define a “democracy” as a form of government in which the people have their say, typically by way of free and fair elections.

And most Americans would probably agree that a democracy is better than, say, a dictatorship.

For generations the United States has actively encouraged and nurtured democracies around the world, but with mixed success. And that may be because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what a democracy is.

Journalist and political commentator Fareed Zakaria has long been a student of democracy and other forms of government, how they work and how they succeed or fail.

And in a 2003 book called The Future of Freedom Zakaria explained why American-led democracy building often fails.

And at the time that he and I talked about the book it was more than just an academic exercise. The interview you’re about to hear took place just days after the fall of Baghdad in the early days of the Iraq War.

So here now, from 2003, Fareed Zakaria.

Fareed Zakaria is 61 And lives in New York. You can see him on CNN and read him in the Washington Post.

Being an LGBTQ MVP in MLB: Billy Bean and His Groundbreaking Career

Bill Thompson

Billy Bean was an outfielder. Between 1987 and 1995 being played for the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Diego Padres.

Billy was a good player but an average player – not a superstar. He bounced back and forth between the majors and minors.

But it was after his retirement from baseball that Billy Bean may have made his greatest contribution to the game, and to society. Almost 4 years after leaving the game, Bean came out as gay, only the second former major Leaguer to do so.

He quickly became an icon in the LGBTQ community, and by 2014 was named MLB’s first Ambassador for Inclusion. Within 2 years he was MLB senior vice president for diversity equity and inclusion.

I met Billy Bean in 2003 when he wrote a memoir called Going the Other Way. It was a very candid exploration of how a gay man fits into major professional sports.

So here now from 2003 Billy Bean.

Billy Bean died in 2024 from leukemia. He was 60.