An epic reported history of National Public Radio that reveals the unlikely story of one of America’s most celebrated but least understood media empires.
A Cappella Books is delighted to welcome journalist Steve Oney to the Margaret Mitchell House to discuss his new book, “On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR.” The author will appear in conversation with longtime Atlanta news anchor and novelist John Pruitt.
This is a ticketed event. Tickets are $12 for not-yet-members, $6 for members, and free for insiders. Purchase tickets here.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase from A Cappella Books at the venue.
About the Book
Founded in 1970, NPR is America’s most powerful broadcast news network. Despite being overshadowed by the larger and more glamorous PBS, public radio has long been home to shows such as “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition,” and “This American Life” that captivate millions of listeners in homes, cars, and workplaces across the nation. NPR and its hosts are a cultural force and a trusted voice, and they have created a mode of journalism and storytelling that helps Americans understand the world in which we live.
In “On Air,” a book fourteen years in the making, journalist Steve Oney tells the dramatic history of this institution, tracing the comings and goings of legendary on-air talents (Bob Edwards, Susan Stamberg, Ira Glass, Cokie Roberts, and many others) and the rise and fall and occasional rise again of brilliant and sometimes venal executives. It depicts how NPR created a medium for extraordinary journalism—in which reporters and producers use microphones as paintbrushes and the voices of people around the world as the soundtrack of stories both global and local. Featuring details on the controversial firing of Juan Williams, the sloppy dismissal of Bob Edwards, and a $235 million bequest by Joan B. Kroc, widow of the founder of McDonald’s, “On Air” also chronicles NPR’s daring shift into the digital world and its early embrace of podcasting formats, establishing the network as a formidable media empire.
Fascinating, revelatory, and irresistibly dishy, this is a riveting account of NPR’s unlikely launch, chaotic ascent, and ultimate triumph.
About the Author
Steve Oney is a longtime journalist who worked for many years as a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Magazine and Los Angeles magazine. He has also contributed articles to many national publications, including Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine. His history of the lynching of Leo Frank, "And the Dead Shall Rise,” won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and the National Jewish Book Award. Oney was educated at the University of Georgia and at Harvard, where he was a Nieman Fellow. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Madeline Stuart.
About the Conversation Partner
John Pruitt was the long-time anchor of WSB television news in Atlanta and is the author of the novel “Tell It True."
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