Bill Thompson – Page 10 – Now I've Heard Everything

Going Beyond The Stereotype: A Sons Memoir of His Father, The Accused Spy

January 24, 2025Bill Thompson

In the late 1940s and early ‘50s America was caught up in a “red scare.” The nation was gripped by fears of Communism, communist spies, communist infiltration.

One of those accused was a State Department official, who had actually helped form the United Nations. His name was Alger Hiss.

The accusation was that Hiss had spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. By the time the accusations came to light, the statute of limitations on espionage had expired. But Hiss was then charged with perjury, for lying about his alleged communist ties.

One of the chief Congressional investigators in the case was a young Congressman named Richard M. Nixon. The Hiss case propelled Nixon to national notoriety.

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And 75 years ago this week, January 1950, Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury and sentenced to prison, still maintaining his innocence.

Hiss’s son Tony was not even yet a teenager when his father went to prison, but by the time Alger Hiss was freed, their relationship had taken a dramatic, and positive turn.

In 1999 Tony Hiss wrote a memoir of his relationship with his father, called The View From Alger’s Window.

So here now, from 1999 Tony Hiss.

Alger Hiss died in 1996 at the age of 92.

A Longtime Broadcasters Secret to Happiness: Be Thankful

January 22, 2025Bill Thompson

Have you counted your blessings today?

If you haven’t, maybe you should. It might be good for your health.

So says longtime TV journalist Deborah Norville.

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Get your copy of Deborah Norville’s book

In 2007, the “Inside Edition” anchor wrote a book about gratitude, thankfulness, and how they can actually change not just your attitude, but your very health.

So here now, from 2007, Deborah Norville.

Deborah Norville is now 66.

In March she will mark 30 yeasras anchor of “Inside Edition.”

With One True Voice: A Popular Comedian’s Life With Puppets

January 20, 2025Bill Thompson

Have you ever tried to throw your voice like a professional ventriloquist? It’s not as easy as it looks.

Have you ever tried stand-up comedy? That is a lot harder than it looks.

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And can you entertain an audience with your music? Don’t have to tell you how hard that is.

But now meet Taylor Mason, who for the last 40 + years has been a triple threat, a successful comedian, ventriloquist, and musician. He has entertained audiences everywhere.

Taylor Mason was the winner of Star Search in 1991. To put that in perspective, Drew Carey, Norm Macdonald, and Sinbad also competed in various years on Star Search but they never won.

I’ve known Taylor Mason since we were in high school together, so I of course jumped at the chance to interview him for Now I’ve Heard Everything.

The Heavyweight Bout That Transformed America

January 17, 2025Bill Thompson

It was 1938, on the eve of the start of World War II. And a 24-year-old American boxer, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, was about to alter the course of our history.

That young man was Joe Louis – full name Joe Louis Barrow, more widely known by the nickname “The Brown Bomber.”

On June 22 at Yankee Stadium in New York, Joe Louis took on German boxer Max Schmeling in a much-anticipated rematch. Schmeling won their first bout, in 1936. But this one would be all Louis.

He knocked out Schmeling in the first round.

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Get your copy of Joe Louis Barrow’s book

But along the way, according to his son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr, the Brown Bomber transformed the way America saw African Americans.

And that is why Barrow Jr. called his 1988 book about his father Joe Louis: 50 Years an American Hero. I got a few minutes with him that fall when he was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1988, Joe Louis Barrow Jr.

Joe Louis died in 1981 at age 66. Max Schmeling helped pay for his funeral, and Louis was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Presidential Assassination Plot You Never Heard Of

January 15, 2025Bill Thompson

A plot to assassinate the president is, normally, major news, especially when it almost succeeds.

So why do most Americans know next to nothing about a plot to assassinate John f. Kennedy? And no, we’re not talking about gunfire in Dallas.

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The chilling true story told in a new book by bestselling author Brad Meltzer and co-author Josh Mensch is the story of how JFK was targeted in December 1960, before he even took the oath of office.

And you won’t believe the reason why this story has been lost to history up till now. And you may not believe who thwarted the plot.

Their book is called The JFK Conspiracy, published this week by Flatiron Books.

This is actually an interview that brought me out of retirement from interviewing. l had interviewed prominent and influential people for nearly 30 years, but this was my first interview since 2014.

So here now, best-selling author Brad Meltzer.

How Does A Woman Define Success? Answers From Dr. Joyce Brothers

January 15, 2025Bill Thompson

She was America’s first “pop psychologist.”. Dr. Joyce Brothers became instantly famous in 1955, as a 28-year-old, when she won the TV quiz show ‘’The $64,000 Question” by showing off her expertise in, of all things, boxing.

Over the next five decades, Dr. Brothers offered her advice via television appearances and a magazine column.

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She was the author of many books, including her1988 book called The Successful Woman, based on interviews she had done with dozens of some of the country’s most successful women.

And, among other things, her book sought to go beyond the Superwoman archetype, the modern woman who has it all. Or at least, seems to.

So here now, from 1988, Dr. Joyce Brothers.

Dr. Joyce Brothers died in 2013 at age 85.

Brian Wilson: The Troubled Genius of The Beach Boys

January 10, 2025Bill Thompson

Brian Wilson is widely regarded as one of the most influential music figures of our time.

As a founding member of The Beach Boys, Wilson led a music revolution that went far beyond the ‘60s “California sound” or even pop music generally.

But fame and success carry a price. And for Wilson, the price he paid was his mental health and later physical well-being, as well Substance abuse further complicated his life.

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Yet Wilson continued to create and innovate – and perform. And in 1991, he wrote a memoir, a book he called Wouldn’t It Be Nice. That’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1991, Brian Wilson.

Brian Wilson Is 82 now. He stopped touring in 2022, and his family has said he suffers from dementia.

Christine Todd Whitman: Left Behind By The Radicalized GOP

January 10, 2025Bill Thompson

There was a time in American politics, not that long ago, when there were actually liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats, and a broad range of moderates.

But the landscape has changed, and the parties have become much more polarized – reciprocally, it seems, the MAGA-dominated GOP.

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Twenty years ago a prominent Republican warned us about the divide and what it was doing to the country.

Christine Todd Whitman, the two-term Governor of New Jersey and Rockefeller Republican, former EPA Administrator, said the 21st century GOP was turning away from the party she had grown up in.

Get your copy of Christine Todd Whitman’s book

Whitman wrote a book in 2005 called It’s My Party, Too – The Battle For the Heart of the GOP. She and I talked about the book in February of 2005, just a couple of weeks after George W. Bush’s second term began.

So here now, from 2005, Christine Todd Whitman .

Christine Todd Whitman is 78 now. In 2022 she and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang co-founded the centrist “Forward Party.”

His Life As The Eldest Brady: The Recollections of Barry Williamsz

January 6, 2025Bill Thompson

Here’s the story of a boy named Brady…

By the age of 15, Barry Williams was already a television veteran. He had had small roles in a number of popular TV shows but he was about to get his big break.

In 1969, Williams was cast in the role of Greg Brady, the eldest of the six children in the blended Brady family, a role that he embraced and ran with for the next five seasons.

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But the endurance of “The Brady Bunch” has far surpassed that of most of its contemporary television series. Those five seasons have persisted in our collective nostalgia all these years.

By 1992, almost two decades after the show went off the air, it was still popular among not only Baby Boomers and Gen xers but their children, too.

And that’s the year that Barry Williams wrote a memoir, called Growing Up Brady. As a card carrying Brady-watching Boomer myself, there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to talk with him.

I had so many questions, including whatever happened to Fluffy the cat?

So here now, from 1992, Barry Williams.

Describing the ‘Funny Sauce’ of the Blended Family: Writer/film producer Delia Ephron

December 20, 2024December 19, 2024Bill Thompson

A couple of generations back, a typical American family might consist of a mom, a dad, and 2.4 kids.

But as the divorce rate rose a new American family archetype emerged: the so-called “blended family.”

There was now a new dynamic that included stepparents, stepchildren, step-siblings, exes and new mates…

And absolutely no owner’s manual to describe how all those pieces are supposed to fit together.

That was the brave new world that writer Delia Ephron stepped into in 1982 when she became a stepmother.

And it wasn’t long before Ephron, a talented writer who had already written several books, realized she needed to write a book about this.

In 1986 Delia Ephron wrote that book, which she called Funny Sauce. I met her that fall when she was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1986, Delia Ephron.

In the years that followed our interview, Delia Ephron wrote screenplays for movies like “You’ve Got Mail,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,”” and “Hanging Up.”

And she produced “Sleepless in Seattle,” written by her big sister Nora.

Delia Ephron is now 80. Her most recent book was published in 2022.