Nov 10th, 2004 · A sports journalist covers each passing season like a close presidential race. They ask the tough questions to powerful people, challenge authority, and dissect post game interviews like Presidential stump speeches. Commentator Frank Deford thinks that political reporters could learn a thing or two from wide world of sports reporters.
Nov 3rd, 2004 · From January 2001 to February 2002 he was a special assistant to President Bush for economic speech-writing. He held the position during the Sept. 11 attacks and he is the man responsible for the oft-repeated Bush term "axis of evil." Frum is the author of the book, The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush.
Oct 20th, 2004 · Day to Day book critic David Kipen reviews a new collection of writings by President Theodore Roosevelt, entitled simply Letters and Speeches. He's surprised at how many of the former U.S. president's letters and speeches are still relevant today.
Aug 21st, 2004 · There's a lot of speechifying going on these days, with President Bush and Sen. John Kerry traveling around making their stump speeches. Has it always been this way? NPR's Scott Simon asks Weekend Edition classics commentator Elaine Fantham what oratory was like in the days before teleprompters.
Aug 20th, 2004 · In the wake of the publicity generated by protests in London and Philadelphia over anti-gay lyrics in the music of Jamaican dancehall star Beenie Man, sportswear manufacturer Puma warned a group of reggae stars performing in a Puma-sponsored Olympics concert that it would pull the plug if they sang homophobic material. One of those singers, Buju Banton, has already had concerts cancelled in Germany, where hate speech laws are strict. RJ Reynolds has bumped Beenie Man from 14 concerts on its Salem "Stir Your Senses" U.S. tour. Joel Rose of member station WHYY reports.
Jul 20th, 2004 · In his new book, Why Lincoln Matters: Today More Than Ever, former New York governor Mario Cuomo examines the writings and speeches of one of America's most beloved presidents, Abraham Lincoln, on issues relevant to today's world, including pre-emptive war, taxes and religion in politics. Cuomo speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.
Jun 8th, 2004 · In February 1860, Abraham Lincoln, an unknown lawyer from the West with no formal education, delivered a speech before a New York audience that transformed him into a serious presidential contender. A new book re-examines the Cooper Union speech credited with propelling Lincoln to the White House. NPR's Robert Siegel talks with scholar Harold Holzer about his new book, Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President.
Feb 19th, 1999 · NPR's year-long Friday collaboration with independent producers Jay Allison and the Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva) -- a series called LOST AND FOUND SOUND. Today we present an item from our QUEST FOR SOUND, in which listeners call 202-408-0300 and tell us about recordings they have - or have stumbled upon. Reverend Dwight Frizzell of Kansas City, Missouri found a recording of the late President Harry S. Truman from 1957 -- five years after Truman left office. The tape is of Truman dedicating a shopping center to be built on the site of his boyhood home. With music Frizzell and a friend added, this remarkable speech winds up being a powerful, and unintended elegy to a passing era.