It was in December 1971 that a staff writer for the New Yorker named Gloria Steinem created what would become, the following summer, Ms. Magazine.
The December debut was actually an insert in the New Yorker, and it instantly catapulted stynom to the forefront of the feminist movement.
Fast forward to 1992. Gloria Steinem wrote a book called The Revolution Within, and that’s when she and I sat down for one of our several conversations over the years.
So here now, from 1992, gloria Steinem.
Gloria Steinem will be 88 next March. She remains active as an organizer and lecturer.
I don’t know about you but every Christmas season one of the movies I have to watch is it’s a Wonderful Life.
The story of George Bailey, the small town building and loan manager who’s given the chance to see what the world would be like without him is a Christmas classic.
Almost 30 years ago now two guys came out with a book of trivia about the movie. One of them was Jimmy Hawkins, who played Tommy in the movie. The other was actor. Paul Petersen.
Now you may wonder what Paul Petersen has to do with. It’s a Wonderful LLfe. Well. Paul Petersen was one of the stars of the ’60s sitcom The Donna Reed show — and of course Donna Reed was Jimmy Stewart’s co-star in. It’s a Wonderful Life.
And unless you have a master’s degree in, it’s a Wonderful Life. I can promise you will learn something about that movie in the next few minutes.
For a generation, a handcrafted Longaberger basket is something of a home decor showpiece.
Dave Longaberger founded the company in 1973, and by 1975 had hired his daughter Tammy to work there. When Dave died in 1999, Tami took over as president and CEO.
In 2001, a book that Dave Longaberger had written was finally published, and Tammy went on tour to promote it. That’s when I met her.
At the time, the Longaberger company was at its peak, with thousands of employees making all kinds of home decor products,
They even built a company headquarters building in Ohio that looks like a giant Longaberger Basket.
So here now, from 2001, Tami Longaberger.
Some time after our interview in 2001, the Longaberger Company’s fortunes began to slide. Tami stepped down as CEO in 2015, and Longaberger ceased operations in 2018. The company’s brand was revived a year later by another comp[any.
As for the distinctive basket shape headquarters building, Longaberger moved out of it in 2016, and it was sold to developers in They’ve tried to turn it into a luxury hotel, but at present those plans are still on hold.
Tami Longaberger is 60 now, and works with a venture capital firm based in Washington, DC.
On a quiet Sunday in early December, millions of Americans went about their usual routines.
Folks went to church. Children played out in the yard. Teenagers went to movies. Families went to dinner. People listen to football games on the radio.
And then everything changed.
On the radio came the horrible news that the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii had been attacked by forces from Japan
And just like that, America was plunged into World War II.
Back in 1991 as the nation was preparing to mark the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, I took the opportunity to ask anyone I interviewed that year who was old enough to remember, where they were and what they were doing on that day.
You’re about to hear from men and women who on December 7th 1941 were children or teenagers or young men and women, but who later became major figures in American culture and society. Journalists broadcasters, actors, mystery, writers, military leaders and sports heroes.
You are also going to hear some words and terms and songs that by today’s standards are rude, offensive, and unacceptable. We were a nation that had just been punched hard in the face and our anger was fresh and raw.
Fprty years ago this weekend a U.S. Army general who was stationed at a NATO facility in Italy was kidnapped by a Marxist terrorist group known as the Red Brigades.
General James Dozier spent the next 42 days in captivity, before a dramatic rescue.
And, as you’re about to hear in this interview, Dozier’s rescue by Italian special forces actually help break the back of the Red Brigades.
I met General Dozier and his wife Judy several years later. They wrote a book about that harrowing episode.
So here now from 1990 general James Dozier and his wife Judy.
Does this song help put you in the Christmas spirit?
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That song was written by Mel Torme. He was born and raised in Chicago. He first sang in public and at age 4, wrote his first song at age 13, and was an actor in a radio show by his teens.
From the 1940s through the 1990s, Mel Torme established himself as one of America’s favorite and most popular singers, songwriters, and the Rangers.
He acquired a nickname: The Velvet Fog. In 1988, when he wrote his autobiography, he actually called o. Ot Wasn’t All Velvet. And that’s what I met him.
The New York Times once labeled William Kunstler “America’s most controversial lawyer.”
What earned him that distinction was his defense of the so-called “Chicago Seven,” a group of young radicals who tried to disrupt the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
But the Chicago Seven were hardly Kunstler’s most controversial clients. He also represented clients ranging from Jack Ruby to U.S. Marine and Russian spy Clayton Lonetree, to the man known as The Blind Sheikh, the man behind the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
I met William Kunstler in 1994, when he wrote his autobiography, a book titled My Life As a Radical Lawyer.
Last week the National Football League and its fans lost a truly iconic figure, Don Shula, the all-time winningest NFL coach, died at the age of 90.
I met Don Shula in 1995, just a few months before the start of what would be his final season coaching in the NFL. He had written a book on coaching and leadership, along with Ken Blanchard, the prolific author who [s best known for his book “The One Minute Manager.”
Here now, from 1995, Don Shula and Ken Blanchard:
To this day, the 1972 Miami Dolphins team that Don Shula coached is still the only team that’s ever put together a perfect, undefeated season.
He had his first number-one song in 1951, a tune called “Because of You” — and Tony Bennett has never slowed down since.
Photo: John Mathew Smith
Over his seven-decade show business career, Bennett has proven to be as popular today, among all age groups as we was when he was just beginning his rise to stardom.
In 1998 Bennett finally wrote his autobiography, a book called “The Good Life.” That’s when I met him, and yes, I was hugely starstruck.
So here now, from 1998, Tony Bennett.
Tony Bennett is 93 now. And still making millions happy with his music,
On this Thanksgiving Eve, we’ll be talking a little turkey. And gravy, and mashed potatoes, and lots of other delicious stuff from the cookbook written by actress and cookbook author Jill St. John.
In a long and successful acting career St. John was popular in movies and on television.
She was in Diamonds Are Forever as Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl.
Later. though, she established herself as a chef and food writer in print and on TV.
I met her a few days before Thanksgiving in 1987, when we had a nice conversation about all kinds of food, and how she came to write a cookbook. And her acting career.
