Maureen Dowd’s satirical Take on The Gender Politics of Our Time

Photo by Artwi

Are men necessary?

No, I’m not asking the question, I’m merely repeating the title of the 2005 book by the renowned New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.

More below video:

Get your copy of Maureen Dowd’s book

In a witty, often tongue-in-cheek examination of the sexual politics of the day, Dowd explains many of the perplexities of male-female relationships , which seems especially relevant in today’s world where politicians define us as men or women, period.

I met Maureen Dowd just before Christmas 2005 to talk about her book.

So here now, from 2005, Maureen Dowd.

Maureen Dowd turned 73 a couple of weeks ago. She’s been with the New York Times since 1983.

A Longtime Broadcasters Secret to Happiness: Be Thankful

Photo by Stuart Ramson

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.

More below video:

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.”

Calling BS on Politicians: Columnist Molly Ivins

This year’s long and divisive battle for the presidency is just about over.Tomorrow is Election Day And not a moment too soon.

And while certain elements of this campaign have been unique, even unprecedented, much of it has in fact been, for lack of a better term, business as usual.

Longtime Texas-based political columnist Molly Ivins made her living critiquing that business. And Molly was never reticent about pointing out the emperor’s lack of new clothes

She and I had several conversations over several years, including the one you’re about to hear, from 2004.

Get your copy of Molly Ivins’s book

Ivins had just published a collection of some of her columns, and the book came out in the midst of the 2004 presidential campaign.

When we spoke that summer, John Kerry had already secured the democratic presidential nomination to run against incumbent Republican George W Bush, but the Democratic convention was still about two weeks away.

But see if you don’t agree that so much of what she was talking about 20 years ago doesn’t sound just like she could have said it last week.

So here now, from 2004, Molly Ivins.

Molly Ivins died in 2007 at age 62.

Journalist Steven Roberts On The Contributions of Immigrants

The United States has always, it seems, felt deeply divided about immigrants.

We consider ourselves a melting pot, a refuge that welcomes the tired, the poor, the huddled masses.

But at the same time we are often suspicious of immigrants, hostile to the newcomers from foreign lands

In this election year, in particular, anti-immigrant sentiment has divided us.

Get your copy of Steven Roberts’s book

Fifteen years ago, the journalist and commentator Steven Roberts took inspiration from Barack Obama’s first inaugural address when deciding on a title for his book. Roberts called it From Every End of This Earth.

So here now, from 2009, Steven Roberts.

Steven Roberts.is 81, and appears regularly in several major media outlets.

First, You Speak Out: Betty Rollin Started the Breast Cancer Dialogue

In the mid-1970s Betty Rollin was a rising star at NBC News, racking up prestigious awards for her work.

She didn’t realize that the most important story she would ever cover would be her own.

Rollin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1975. And even though the disease claimed tens of thousands of lives every year, it got little public attention.

That is, until Rollin wrote a book about her experience, a landmark book that has helped millions of women get through their own diagnoses. Rollin called her book First, You Cry.

Get your copy of Betty Rollin’s book

That book is now widely credited with opening the door and helping the nation start a dialogue about breast cancer.

First, You Cry was republished in 1993, some 16 years after its initial publication.That’s when I met the dynamic and witty Betty Rollin.

So here now, from 1993, Betty Rollin.

Betty Rollin.lived for another 30 years after our interview. She died in 2023 by assisted suicide at the age of 87.

C-SPAN Founder Brian Lamb on Where History and Literature Intersect

Photo by C-SPAN

The journalist who founded C-SPAN in the 1970s retired last month after leading the network for 47 years.

To many viewers, Brian Lamb was C-SPAN. His quiet and intelligent demeanor helped set the tone for the cable outlet dedicated to bringing the workings of the federal government into American homes.

And for 15 years, from 1989 to 2004, Brian Lamb was also host of the popular weekly C-SPAN show “Booknotes.”

Each show featured a prominent writer of nonfiction, and each was allowed on the show only once, meaning Lamb tapered 800 shows with 800 authors.

Get your copy of Brian Lamb’s book

About halfway through the show’s run, Lamb and his staff collected highlights from many of those interviews in a book called – appropriately enough – Booknotes.

That’s when I had the chance to spend a few minutes with him.

So here now, from 1997. Brian Lamb.

Brian Lamb will be 83 next month. He lives in Virginia. .

A conversation with conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr.

A number of countries require national service from their young men, and Israel from its young women as well

What should the US?

Require national service? No. But more than 30 years ago, a conservative commentator suggested national service as a means of letting America’s young people express their gratitude for the civil liberties we enjoy.

In a book length essay called Gratitude, William F Buckley junior argued for voluntary national service

Get your copy of William F. Buckley Jr.’s book

Buckley founded National Review in 1955, an act many believe launched the modern conservative movement.

And for 33 years TV audiences watched him on “Firing Line. “

By today’s measure, however, Buckley’s views may be seen as less rigidly conservative

I spoke with him in 1990 when his book Gratitude was published.

So here now, from 1990, William F. Buckley Jr.

William F Buckley Jr died in 2008. He was 82.

Ed Bliss, Broadcast News Pioneer Recalls Radio’s Infancy

Tomorrow, August 20, is National Radio Day, the annual commemoration of the contributions the radio industry has made.

Commercial radio has actually been around for more than 100 years, and, as you might expect, has changed and evolved rather dramatically.

Radio in its infancy was a novelty, and it took years for the medium to begin realizing its full potential as an essential part of American life.

A young boy growing up in the early 20th century was among those we would now call “early adopters” – and he went on to a broadcasting career in which he helped shape what we now know as broadcast 5 news.

Like so many radio journalists of the time, Ed Bliss was a newspaper reporter for several years before landing a job, almost by chance, at CBS radio in 1943.

Get your copy of Ed Bliss’s book

For the next 25 years Bliss wrote for and produced Edward R. Murrow, and later, Walter Cronkite.

After leaving CBS in 1968 Bliss founded the broadcast journalism program at American University.

And in 1991 Bliss wrote a history of broadcast journalism in America, a book called Now The News.

That’s when I have the chance to spend a few minutes with this legend in my chosen profession.

So here now, from 1991, Ed Bliss.

Ed Bliss died in 2002. He was 90.

From Murder Scene to Murde3r Scene: Crime Writer Edna Buchanan

Edna Buchanan joined the Miami Herald in 1973, working the police beat. And she was good at it. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for her reporting.

By the late 1980s, she had turned to fiction writing, The real life stories she had covered became the raw material for her fiction.

And it turned out she was really good at that, too. Many of her books became best sellers, and a couple were turned into movies.

Get your copy of Edna Buchanan’s book

But she also wrote several nonfiction books, including one in 1992 called Never Let Them See You Cry. That’s when she and I had one of our several conversations over the years.

So here now, from 1992, Edna Buchanan

Edna Buchanan is 85 now, and still lives in Florida.

JFK Jr As Remembered By Magazine Colleague Richard Bradley

It was 25 years ago tomorrow, July 16, 1999 that a small plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard took the lives of 38-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr.. his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette.

At the time of his death Kennedy was struggling to keep his magazine, George, afloat.

Richard Bradley was one of the original editors at George in 1995, and by 1999 was the magazine’s executive editor.

Get your copy of Richard Bradley’s book

In 2002, Bradley – writing under his birth name Richard Blow – published a bestselling book about JFK Jr. and George, called American Son. The book was not without its critics and controversy, with some saying Bradley should not have written it at all.

I met Bradley when he was on a book tour to promote it in the spring of 2002. So here now, from 2002, Richard Bradley

Richard Bradley is0 now. George magazine folded in 2001 .