Bill Thompson – Page 8 – Now I've Heard Everything

Finding Your Capacity For Compassion: Spiritual Guru Ram Dass

March 17, 2025Bill Thompson

In today’s America it often feels to many people like there is a lack of empathy, or compassion. Too often the underprivileged, the underserved, the marginalized get pushed aside.

But compassion may prove to be like a muscle, that we can exercise and strengthen.

Famed psychologist and eastern spiritual leader Ram Dass wrote more than a dozen books over a period of years, starting in 1971 with the groundbreaking Be Here Now.

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In 1992 Dass Wrote a book to show us what compassion should look like. His book was called Compassion in Action. That’s when I had a few minutes with him.

So here now, from 1992, Ram Dass.

Ram Dass died in 2019, at the age of 88.

Sir Michael Caine’s Legacy: Childhood Dreams Come True

March 14, 2025Bill Thompson

On this day, March 14, 1933 a baby boy named Maurice Joseph Micklewhite was born in London. His parents were working class, and his family lived a meager existence.

But at age 10, young Maurice was bitten by the acting bug thanks to a small part in a school play.

That launched an 8th decade career for the man we now know as Michael Caine. He adopted his stage name off the success of The Caine Mutiny.

By the time he retired a couple of years ago Michael Caine had appeared in 160 movies, picking up two Oscars and three Golden Globe awards along the way.

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His best known films include Alfie, The Ipcress File, The Man Who Would Be King, A Bridge Too Far, Hannah and Her Sisters, Sleuth, Miss Congeniality, and Austin Powers.

In 2000 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth to become Sir Michael Caine.

In 1992, Cain wrote what would become the first of three memoirs, a book called What’s It All About? That’s what I have the chance to spend a few minutes with this incredible actor.

So here now, from 1992, Sir Michael Caine.

Today, as Sir Michael Caine celebrates his 90 second birthday, he lives in retirement in London.

Is The 25th Amendment a Recipe For a Coup? John Batchelor Imagines this Scenario

March 13, 2025Bill Thompson

On its face the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution seems pretty straightforward. If a president is rendered incapable of carrying out the duties of the office, the vice president takes over – perhaps just temporarily, if the president’s condition is temporary.

But there is a fundamental flaw in the 25th Amendment, says popular radio host and novelist John Batchelor.

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In his 1994 novel, called Father’s Day, Batchelor imagines what would happen if the 25th Amendment resulted in a constitutional crisis. And in today’s political climate it’s not hard to see how this could happen.

Although this interview is 30 years old it still feels very timely and relevant.

So here now, from 1994, John Batchelor.

John Batchelor will be 77 next month. He is currently heard on Eye On The World on CBS Radio.

Miracles Do Happen: Liver Ttransplant Surgeon Rose-Marie Toussaint

March 10, 2025Bill Thompson

Until the early 1980s liver transplants were considered experimental surgeries. As their success rate mounted, liver transplants became mainstream.

And one of the most prominent practitioners of that specialty is Haitian-born Dr. Rose-Marie Toussaint.

As a young girl she was told by a priest that she would someday become a doctor, and she took that prophecy seriously, And aimed her life in that direction when her family moved to Florida in 1970 when she was still a teenager.

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Toussaint was inspired during her medical school education to become a transplant specialist, after witnessing what she said appeared to be the miraculous recovery of transplant patients.

Dr. Toussaint was the first black female liver transplant surgeon. She also established the National Transplant Foundation.

In 1998 Dr. Toussaint wrote a memoir called Never Question the Miracle, Documenting her rise from poverty to prominence.

So here now from 1998 Dr, Rose-Marie Toussaint.

Dr, Rose-Marie Toussaint lives and practices in Florida.

Bob Dole’s Incredible Story of Survival in World War II

March 7, 2025Bill Thompson

In April 1945 the war in Europe was nearing its end. But battles were still raging, And on April 14 one such battle left a young American 2nd Lieutenant gravely wounded.

His name was Bob Dole, a 21-year-old from Kansas who had joined the Army in 1942.

The German shell that hit him that day in Italy in 1945 was nearly fatal. Miraculously Dole survived, but it would be another three years before he was out of the hospital.

Dole, of course, went on to a long, illustrious, and successful political career, culminating with the 1996 Republican nomination for president.

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In 2005 Dole wrote a memoir of his World War II experience, a book called One Soldier’s Story. I met with him in his Washington DC office one day that spring to talk about it, some 60 years after he nearly died on that battlefield in Italy.

So here now, from 2005, Bob Dole.

Bob Dole died in 2021 – he was 98.

How Cutting-Edge Science Hss Changed Homicide Investigations

March 6, 2025Bill Thompson

Crime-solving in the 21st century is all about science.

Simply dusting for fingerprints and taking a few crime scene photos just isn’t enough anymore. Police and prosecutors today have a wide array of sophisticated technology.

Forensic pathologist Michael Baden has been around long enough to see that evolution, and to be an active participant in it.

Whether in official roles or as a private consultant, Baden has been involved in many high-profile homicide investigations, including very notably the OJ Simpson case.

In 2001 Baden wrote a book called Dead Reckoning, detailing his findings in some of those high-profile cases.

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When I met him to talk about that book, it was less than 2 months after the September 11th attacks, which you will hear referenced in this interview.

So here now, from 2001, Michael Baden.

But You Knew What I Meant: Lynne Truss On The Degradation of Language

March 3, 2025Bill Thompson

Does it drive you crazy when people can’t tell the difference between their, there, and they’re?

Do you do a slow burn when someone puts an apostrophe where it doesn’t belong?

If you’re a Millennial or Gen Z, are you offended when your parents put a period at the end of their text?

Punctuation, grammar, and spelling matter a lot to many people, maybe moreso than they will admit. In fact, some proudly wear the mantle of “stickler.”

British author and journalist Lynne Truss is a stickler, and proud of it. And about 20 years ago she tapped into a whole vein of sticklers, first in Great Britain, then in the US, with her book Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

And suddenly people were openly expressing their disdain at misspelled signs, badly punctuated emails, and the general lack of literacy.

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I met Lynne in 2004 when she was on a US book tour.

so here now, from 2004, Lynne Truss.

Lynne Truss will be 70 in May. And yes, I ran AI punctuation, spelling and grammar checks on this script.

The Last War Chief: Joe Medicine Crow’s Life and Legacy

February 28, 2025Bill Thompson

Many of us have grandparents who can tell us stories about the old days, the “old days” usually being the 1930s, maybe the ‘20s.

But imagine being able to sit down with an old relative who could tell you firsthand about General George Custer, or even Lewis and Clark.

For several decades, starting in the 1940s, Joe Medicine Crow was the historian of the Crow Indian tribe. And much of the history he wrote down came from those aging family members he had known.

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His step-grandfather, for example. Known as White Man Runs Him, he was a scout for General Custer, and as such was an eyewitness to the Battle of Little Bighorn.

But Medicine Crow had many stories of his very own to tell. He was a noted scholar, World War Two hero, and Native American leader. He was, in fact, the last war chief of the Crow tribe.

I met him in 1993, when, just shy of age 80, he published the first of what would be several books about the Crow tribe. The book was called From The Heart of The Crow Country.

So here now, from 1993, Joe Medicine Crow.

Joe Medicine Crow was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

He died 23 years after our interview, in 2016, at age 102.

Elaine Brown And The Evolution of The Black Panther Party

February 26, 2025Bill Thompson

When Huey Newton and Bobby seale formed the Black Panther Party in 1966, it was largely a very masculine male oriented organization. It was a year before it had its first female member.

And then in 1968 a 25 year old woman from Philadelphia joined the black Panther party. Her name was Elaine Brown.

It was largely through her efforts that the party became more female-friendly, and in 1971 she succeeded Eldridge Cleaver as the party’s information minister.

When Huey Newton fled to Cuba in 1974 to avoid prosecution in the US, he appointed Brown chairwoman of the party.

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But the party continued to struggle with male versus female rivalries, and when Newton returned in 1977, Brown had had enough, and left the party.

The Black Panthers dissolved in 1982.

Fast forward to 1993, and Elaine Browne wrote A Memoir called A Taste of Power. That’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Elaine Brown.

Elaine Brown will be 82 next week.

She currently heads Oakland & the World Enterprises, an organization she founded in 2014.

A Lifetime of Sports Memories: TVs Warner Wolf

February 24, 2025Bill Thompson

TV sportscasters, just like the athletes they covered, come and go.

But a few established themselves as stars, remaining popular for years, even decades.

Meet televisions Warner Wolf. He actually started on the radio in 1961, before moving to TV in 1965 in his hometown Washington DC.

By 1976 he had moved on to New York City, were he further cemented his reputation as a sportscasting star.

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Along the way Warner Wolf popularized two catch phrases: “Gimme a break!” and “Let’s go to the videotape.”

Eventually Wolf wrote two books, each titled after one of those catchphrases. I met him in 2000 on publication of Let’s Go To The Videotape.

Be sure and stick around for his predictions, and see how many of them actually came true.

So here now, from 2000, Warner Wolf.

Warner wolf levt TV in 2016. He’s 87 now, and can be heard weekly on New York’s WOR radio.