No one could tell a story better than Frank McCourt. His first book, Angela's Ashes, remains one of the most compelling accounts of poverty, alcoholism, and the longing for a better life. It won a Pulitzer Prize 25 years ago, and transformed McCourt from a modest immigrant and a lifelong high school teacher, into a literary celebrity. In this episode, which originally posted in 2017, you'll hear McCourt hold forth with tremendous humor and that lyrical voice - about the miseries of his childhood in Ireland, as well as his passion for teaching and writing.
Fifteen years ago, a sleek pocket-sized device was introduced that would change much about how we interact in the world: the iPhone. This is the intimate history of the two men who created it. Steve Jobs famously co-founded Apple. In the late 90’s, when the company was failing, he hired a young engineer and designer named Tony Fadell, who created a little device that became known as the iPod. It not only turned Apple’s fortunes around, it transformed the music industry and the experience of listening. Fadell’s next assignment was the iPhone, which changed the nature of communication itself. After leaving Apple, Fadell went on to found Nest Labs, a company that has begun to alter the technology of the home. You’ll hear Tony Fadell’s fascinating personal story, told with all the passion and enthusiasm he brings to his game-changing inventions. And you’ll hear Steve Jobs, speaking as a young man (in 1982) about what it takes to innovate. This episode originally posted in 2016.
The COVID-19 vaccine came out at warp speed because of the work of these two scientists. For many years they had been investigating the secrets of messenger RNA (mRNA). And when the pandemic began, their research was ready and waiting. On this episode you’ll hear Katalin Karikó talk about her humble beginnings in Hungary, and the forces that enabled her to persevere, even though for decades people thought her ideas about mRNA were laughable. She was denied grants, lost jobs and wasn’t taken seriously, but she never wavered. Fortunately, she met Drew Weissman one day at a copy machine, where they both worked at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Weissman was an immunologist, working on a vaccine for HIV. He was interested in Karikó’s work and they began to collaborate. Even when they made major discoveries, they could not get support for their work… until the Corona Virus appeared. Now the scientific world sees the potential that Karikó and Weissman saw all along: that mRNA may open the door to many other vaccines and to therapeutic treatment for a host of illnesses, from Cancer to Sickle Cell Anemia to Heart Disease.
Lauryn Hill has had an outsized impact on the world of hip-hop, soul and R&B. She entered the music world in the mid-1990’s as one third of the band The Fugees, and soon after released a solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”. It was a phenomenon, and swept the Grammys. But then Ms. Hill pretty much vanished from music and public life, in an internal battle between fame, family and faith.On this episode you’ll hear the incomparable and enigmatic Lauryn Hill, speaking in 2000, just as she had begun her retreat. She’s open, honest, raw and very funny about the transformation she was undergoing. This episode originally posted in 2016. We're bringing it back to usher in summer!
Norman Mineta spent three years in a internment camp for Japanese-Americans when he was a child. But this shameful period in American history did not deter him from becoming a celebrated civil servant, one who broke racial barriers to become a 10-term U.S. Congressman from California and the first Asian-American member of the Cabinet. In honor of Norm Mineta, who died last week at the age of 90, and in celebration of Asian-American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we invite you to take a second listen to our episode from 2020. It also features the story of long-serving U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, a veteran of the most decorated regiment in US history, the 442nd. The 442nd was a segregated Japanese-American unit that fought in Europe after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. These two stories stand in stark contrast, and reflect some of the worst - and best - impulses in America. And they are a testament to the triumph of the human spirit.
As a tribute to Naomi Judd, who died on Saturday night at the age of 76, we are re-posting our episode from 2017. Ms. Judd's life and storied career had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, as she talked about here. For eight glorious years, she and her daughter Wynonna were the biggest country music sensation of the 1980's, with fourteen number one hits, sold-out stadium tours, and too many rhinestones to count. But Naomi's life before and after was far from glamorous. Her early years in a small-town Kentucky were tumultuous and at times traumatic. She struggled as a young single mom on welfare. But singing transformed her relationship with Wynonna, and took them to the heights of the music industry. As she shared in this conversation, however, a devastating case of Hepatitis brought it all crashing down, then eventually led her to a place of tremendous insight and gratitude. Naomi Judd died just one night before she and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame...
Only four women have ever received the Nobel Prize in Physics. This episode features two of them! Andrea Ghez unlocked a secret of the universe when she figured out how to prove the existence of a super-massive black hole in the center of our galaxy. Donna Strickland devised a way of producing far more intense and precise lasers. Those lasers have changed manufacturing, cancer treatments, and eye surgeries, and promise to offer insights into the fundamental principles of physics. Both Ghez and Strickland talk here about their lives and about becoming world-class scientists at a time when women were under-represented, under-appreciated, and often unrecognized for their achievements.
Russia's war in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin's threat to unleash nuclear weapons, has put the world on edge. In 2018 we explored the complicated history of the nuclear age, and we thought it was an opportune time to revisit that episode. Our story focuses on Edward Teller, often called "The Father of the Hydrogen Bomb". He was also the force behind Reagan's Star Wars initiative, and the model for "Dr. Strangelove". Teller was a Hungarian math prodigy who fled Hitler's Germany. In America, he became one of the leading scientists at Los Alamos, developing the atomic bomb in a race against the Nazi war machine. But while many of Teller's colleagues later became disheartened by what they had unleashed, Teller stayed the course. His story is told here in his own voice, and by many of the other scientists who created the first weapons of mass destruction.
The Tuskegee Airmen were some of the bravest and best pilots to ever fly for the United States Armed Forces. One of the last surviving members of the pioneering African-American fighting force, is Lieutenant Colonel James Harvey. He faced tremendous discrimination during his career, but he became the very first winner of the Top Gun competition. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II led to the desegregation of the military. And that opened a path for fighter pilot Charles Q. Brown, the current Chief of Staff for the U.S Air Force, and the first African-American to lead any branch of the military. Both men share their extraordinary stories, and talk about how they persevered against the odds.
During March Madness, can you think of anything more satisfying to do between games than listen to an interview with legendary UCLA coach John Wooden?! Wooden led his team to more NCAA championships than any other coach in history, and he did it with a quiet, old-fashioned approach that challenged notions of what it takes to win. Even if you're not a sports fan, you can find lessons and inspiration from Coach Wooden's leadership. In this episode, which originally posted in 2016, Wooden talks about his fatherly love for the players, his famous pyramid of success, and the difference between reputation and character. He also explains why basketball is the greatest spectator sport there is.