Charlie Meyerson interviews

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Murrow Award-winning broadcast journalist Charlie Meyerson shares historic interviews from decades of reporting—and new encounters, too.

Charlie Meyerson


    • Jun 12, 2023 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 46 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Charlie Meyerson interviews

    How best to open a podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2023


    I haven't posted much here lately about my work with the talented team I helped assemble a decade ago at Rivet (now formally known as Rivet360)—mostly in secret at the beginning.That's partly because, as I've shifted focus since 2017 to my award-winning Chicago Public Square email news briefing (subscribe free!), I've eased into a role as Rivet's Vice President of Editorial and Development—or, as I call myself, Nagger-in-Chief.And it's partly because the company's shifted its focus from journalism to become an innovative podcast consultancy—producing audio for others as well as shows of its own.One of those shows, PodWell—a guide to becoming better podcasters—is hosted by my friend and colleague Terri Lydon, who was kind enough to share the mic with me in her June 6 edition (recorded May 3, 2023, when I was just getting over a cold or something else that really wasn't COVID-19).That gave me nine minutes or so to nag on one of my favorite topics: How best to open a podcast.If you like this, check out more of my podcast guidance on Rivet's website and elsewhere on this blog.And hear more of my conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Pandora or Spotify, via your favorite podcast player and at Chicago Public Square.(Meyerson headshot: Steve Ewert.)

    Science fiction writer Greg Bear in 1994: The Internet's future

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2022


    [Updating this original post—from March 1, 2015—on Nov. 20, 2022: Greg Bear is dead at 71.] Science fiction writer Greg Bear in a 1994 interview with me on WNUA-FM, Chicago, on the future of the Internet:“It's going to be a huge intellectual telephone line, with graphics and library materials, all available at a few minutes' notice. That, I think, will be revolutionary. ... We have a lot of people from the entertainment industries thinking it's going to be a lot of the same old, same old — where they can simply market movies in new ways, and I don't think it's going to be that way at all. ... The people who are loosely called Generation Xers are going to have their say on this. And I think we may not be able to predict what they're going to do with it.”Update, Jan. 4, 2018: A later interview with Greg Bear, from 1996, when we talked about the prospect of life on Mars.

    Why I should never sing in public

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2022


    Chicago Reader columnist Ben Joravsky was kind enough to invite me on his show this week—we talked Wednesday, the podcast was published Saturday—to answer questions about how and why I do what I do for Chicago Public Square.I was honored along the way to express my admiration for columnists Neil Steinberg and Robert Feder, Reader critic Jack Helbig, The Onion, WXRT-FM News pioneers C.D. Jaco and Linda Brill, Square reader Angela Mullins, radio DJs Bob Stroud and Marty Lennartz, my college radio station WPGU … … and to deliver an ill-advised musical tribute to my alma mater, Carl Sandburg High School, whose fight song I was—for reasons that elude me now—moved to butcher.You've been warned. Here it is. If you like this, check out more of my conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Pandora or Spotify, via your favorite podcast player and at Chicago Public Square.

    1995: Peter David, Chris Claremont and Gary Colabuono discuss the comic book industry's flirtation with disaster

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2022


    [It's been a while since we dove into the archives. But now that hour's come round at last—again.]In 1995, the comic book industry was approaching what later became known as “the Great Comics Crash of 1996”—triggered in part by Marvel Comics' 1994 purchase of the business' third-largest distributor, converting it to distribute Marvel's stuff exclusively.So that was a significant topic June 30, 1995, when I sat down at WNUA-FM in Chicago—just ahead of the 20th annual Chicago Comicon*—with acclaimed comics writers Peter David and Chris Claremont, maybe best known then for their work on Marvel's The Incredible Hulk and The Uncanny X-Men, respectively; and the convention's CEO, Classics International Entertainment President Gary Colabuono, also then the proprietor of Moondog's comic shops.Here's how it went. Looking back on that time now, Colabuono recalls: “Marvel's decision to distribute their own comics was not only the death knell for direct market distributors, it was also the beginning of the end for the vast majority of comic book specialty shops in the U.S. Of the 21 stores in the Moondog's chain, 20 were out of business within a year of Marvel's move.”I've also asked David and Claremont for their perspectives on that time. I'll share them as they arrive.But here's David's July 28, 1995, reflection on that year's con: “If Gary Colabuono … asks you to be guest of honor, two words—Do It. Gary is the consummate host, making sure that you want for nothing and taking care that every need is anticipated.”If you like this, check out more of my conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Pandora or Spotify, via your favorite podcast player and at Chicago Public Square.* For a show that was broadcast July 2, which explains David's joke at the end, “Boy, am I exhausted from that!”

    1988: Chaos in the Chicago City Council

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2022


    This week's transformative Chicago City Council development—the historic livestream video presentation of a committee meeting—brings to mind a time when the council was maddeningly tough to follow.In 1988, I was a newbie City Hall reporter for WXRT-FM. It was an assignment I relished not—partly because the council's procedures were bewilderingly opaque and byzantine.But I channeled my journalistic frustration into creation of a series that won a nationwide United Press International award for documentary radio reporting.So, let's return to the year 1988. Eugene Sawyer was briefly Chicago's mayor, and a young journalist was pissed off at the difficulty navigating … Chaos in the Council.Related:■ Me, far more enthusiastic about covering City Hall in 2012.■ Another award-winning WXRT News investigation from 1984.■ And check out some of my interviews with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Spotify, via Alexa-powered speakers, through your favorite podcast player, and at Chicago Public Square.

    Ex-Chicago Tribune editor James Squires warned in 1993 about the corporate takeover of America's newspapers

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2021


    WTTW's new stars navigate changing news landscape

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2021


    Block Club Chicago's origin story

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2021


    After a lifetime at the Chicago Tribune, Eric Zorn and Steve Johnson are leaving. What's next?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2021


    Pulitzer winner Jamie Kalven on the news business: ‘I see no reason to despair'

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2021


    A ‘mouthy black lesbian feminist' is one of Chicago's most influential media leaders

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2021


    Did Mayor Lightfoot make things better for journalists of color?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2021


    Who was Stan Lee? Two biographers discuss his life and legacy.

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2021


    Email pioneer Aaron Barnhart interviewed in 1996

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2021


    Chicago 7 lawyer William Kunstler in 1994: That trial ‘changed me totally'

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2020


    Charlie Meyerson interviewed … about Charlie Meyerson

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2020


    interview news radio wgn meyerson wxrt charlie meyerson wnua wpgu
    Barack Obama's 1st biographer, David Mendell: Michelle didn't care for the book

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2019


    'Star Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry in 1974 and 1976

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2019


    Journalists Lois Wille and Linda Lutton discuss Chicago's urban development in 1997

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2019


    The death Tuesday of Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago journalist Lois Wille—a veteran of the Tribune, the Sun-Times and the Daily News—brings to mind a memorable 1997 interview with her and journalist Linda Lutton. You can hear them debate urban housing trends that were remaking Chicago then and, more than two decades later, are shaping it still. Here's how it sounded—as aired June 22, 1997, on WNUA-FM, Chicago. More conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Spotify, via your favorite podcast player, and at Chicago Public Square. (1984 image of Wille: C-SPAN.)

    How to get your story on the air in Chicago

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2019


    Science fiction, Radicalized: An interview with Cory Doctorow

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2019


    We were warned in 1997 of 'underground prejudice'

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2018


    Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee in 2017: 'Nerdism is the highest state of mankind'

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2018


    Leon Lederman, science education hacker, in 1997

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2018


    Newspaper editorial boards: Cracking the code

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2018


    How Steve James overcame doubt—his and others'—to create 'America to Me'

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2018


    Food Network star Jeff Mauro talks about that time a guy in the audience died

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2018


    Anna Quindlen, talking out loud in 1993

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2018


    news radio wgn meyerson anna quindlen wxrt talking out loud wnua wpgu
    Trump's precursor? An interview with Pat Buchanan in 1998

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2018


    From 1998: The man who REALLY saved Apple

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2018


    National Lampoon's origins, recalled by founding publisher Matty Simmons in 1987

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2018


    In 1998, a look to the future of working women

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2018


    How the Fantastic Four radio series disappointed Stan Lee in 1975

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2017


    The time I interviewed 'Chickenman' creator Dick Orkin in 1976

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 26, 2017


    David Simon—before 'The Wire,' in 1997

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2017


    'Wait Wait … Don't Tell Me!' host Peter Sagal tells his not-favorite things

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2017


    Turning a live event into a podcast: A case study

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2017


    David Axelrod: From Oak Park to the White House

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2017


    If your school kills your student newspaper—or you're laid off—you can keep going. Cheap.

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2017


    The gang that used to rule cyberspace: A 1993 interview

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2017


    Stan Lee interviewed in 1998 (raw audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2016


    June Foray and Bill Scott, the voices behind 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'—in 1983

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2016


    'Westworld,' 'Jurassic Park' creator Michael Crichton's 1993 plea to science

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2016


    This book about the toy biz will be a TV series. Here's the author in 1998.

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2016


    Bobby Rush, congressman and Black Panther Party veteran, in 1994

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2016


    When Howard the Duck ran for president in 1976

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2016


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