Vintage Interviews With Notable People
The United States was founded on a bedrock of freedom.
But what, exactly,y, is “freedom?” Does it depend on who you ask? Or when you ask?
Renowned historian Eric Foner sought an answer. What, indeed, is freedom?
His 1998 book was called The Story of American Freedom. But while you may assume that the story begins on July 4th, 1776, Foner found far deeper roots – and far broader branches to the definite of freedom.
So here now, from 1998, Eric Foner.
As this year’s Wimbledon Championships get underway let’s recall one of the greatest professional tennis players of our time.
John McEnroe won 77 career singles titles, including three at Wimbledon. He also won 77 doubles titles, including five at Wimbledon. He is in fact the only male player to win more than 70 singles and 70 doubles championships.
It was at Wimbledon in 1981 that McEnroe came up with what has become his signature phrase – “You cannot be serious!”
As the years went on, he embraced and adopted the phrase, even calling his 2002 memoir You Cannot Be Serious.
He wrote candidly about his childhood, his career, and his 8-year marriage to actress Tatum O’Neal, which ended in a bitter 1994 divorce.
And we talked about all of those things when I interviewed him about his book. So here now, from 2002, John McEnroe.
John McEnroe is 65 now. He;s a TV commentator, and still plays in – and wins – senior tournaments.
Since her college days in the early 1960s Rita Mae Brown has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community. Long before it was known by that shorthand descriptor..
She was also active in the anti-war movement, the feminist cause, and the lesbian liberation effort.
She holds two doctorates, in literature and political science.
But she is also widely known for her fiction, her “cozy” mysteries as well as her standalone novels. Her book Rubyfruit Jungle, published in 1973, has become a literary classic.
I met her in 1993, when we had the first of what would be many conversations in the years that followed. We talked about her novel Venus Envy, the story of a young woman who makes one of those life choices that changes everything – and not always for the better,
So here now, from 1993. Rita Mae Brown.
Rita Mae Brown Is 79. She lives in Virginia.
Yesterday would have been Anthony Bourdain’s 68th birthday. Instead June 25 is now observed as “Anthony Bourdain Day” in honor of the beloved celebrity chef.
Bourdain was executive chef at New York’s Les Halles restaurant, but his popularity exploded with his first book Kitchen Confidential.
Then came the Food Network TV show, then more TV on The Travel Channel and CNN.
Yet somehow he had resisted the idea of publishing a cookbook until 2004They finally came out with Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook
Somehow in the 20 years since I did this interview I had forgotten how witty and charming Anthony Bourdain could be
So come back with me now to 2004, and my conversation with Anthony Bourdain.
Anthony Bourdain took his own life on June 8, 2018 while on location in France for his TV show “Parts Unknown.”
How did the son of Alabama sharecroppers, with relatives who were openly racist, become one of the country’s most prominent voices against white supremacy?
His name is Morris Dees, and in 1971 he co-founded the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In his decades-long legal career Dees established himself – and the SPLC – as protectors of the civil rights of many groups, including African Americans, and immigrants.
In 1991 Dees wrote a book about his career, how he got started, why he got into the kind of law he became known for, and what the SPLC was about.
His book was called A Season For Justice, and I met him in the spring of that year to talk about it.
So here now, from 1991. Morris Dees.
Morris Dees is 88 now. The Southern Poverty Law Center fired him in 2019 after he was implicated in connection with workplace sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has led many people to use a very strong word as they discuss, debate, and protest: that word is ‘genocide. ‘
One of the strongest voices for human rights in our time is former UN ambassador Samantha Power A former war correspondent who then entered public service, Power has been a champion of the rights of the oppressed.
She’s written several books, the first of which was a 2002 volume called A Problem From Hell. It was a study of how the United States responded to genocides around the world in the latter half of the 20th century.
And even though this is an interview From more than 20 years ago, its relevance to today’s events cannot be overlooked .
So here now, from 2002, Samantha Power.
Samantha Power is 53 now. She is currently the administrator for the US Agency For International Development.
Work isn’t easy.Of course it never has been, but these days it seems harder than ever.
Unreasonable bosses. Rude customers. A minimum wage that hasn’t been raised in 15 years.
And it’s often fast food workers that seem to get the worst of it.
But here’s a conversation I had some 25 years ago with a former CEO of Burger King – see if you agree with what Barry Gibbons told me about being a good business leader.
The book he wrote that we talked about was called If You Want to Make God Really Laugh, Show Him Your Business Plan.
So here now, from 1999. Barry Gibbons.
Since leaving Burger King Barry Gibbons has been a popular and in-demand speaker on business success.
I can promise you, if you were alive 30 years ago today, June 17, 1994, you were glued to your television watching a white Ford Bronco driving down the 405 in Southern California. Inside was OJ Simpson, about to be arrested for the murders of his ex-wife Nicloe Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
In the L.A. County district attorney’s office, the case was assigned to a veteran 44-year-old prosecutor named Marcia Clark.
And by the time the Simpson trial was over, with its infamous “not guilty” verdict, Clark had unknowingly become a celebrity.
In 1997 Clark wrote a book about the trial, and the toll it took on her. she called the book Without A Doubt, and I met her that spring to talk about it.
So here now, from 1997, Marcia Clark.
Marcia Clark will be 71 in August. OJ Simpson died this past April at age 76.
They used to call him “Dr. Love.:
Author, educator, and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia was an immensely popular figure in the 1980s, seeding the American psyche with a message of love and humanity. Buscaglia was also widely renowned for his penchant for hugging people, even strangers. But once you met Leo you were no more a stranger to him,.
Lao Buscaglia’s parents were Italian immigrants, and although he often mentioned his mother in his books, he had never written extensively about his father, until his 1989 book Papa, My Father. That’s when I first met him.
In this powerful interview, Leo urges us to connect and reconnect with our fathers – and mothers – before we run out of chances to do so.
So here now, from 1989, Leo Buscaglia.
Leo Buscaglia died in 1998. He was 74.
After 41 year0s as host of TV’s “Wheel of Fortune,” Pat Sajak has retired.
But co-star Vanna White hasn’t. She’s been turning the letters since 1982. It wasn’t long after joining the show that Vanna was as well-known as Pat.
I met her in 1987 when she wrote a memoir called Vanna Speaks, a reference to the fact that, in those years, she never said anything on the show.
I spoke with her at the noisy convention of the American Booksellers Association – an event that, it turns out, Vanna had a history with, as you’ll hear shortly.
So, here now, from 1987, Vanna White.
Vanna White is 67 now. She is signed to remain on the show through 2026.