Newseum Podcast

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: How, after evading 200 federal agents over a five-year, $24 million manhunt, Eric Robert Rudolph was arrested for setting off a bomb that killed one person and injured 112 at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explorethe stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’sepisode: How FBI investigators at the Terrorist Explosive DeviceAnalytical Center (TEDAC) examine improvised explosive devices(IEDs) — the weapons of choice for terrorists — to identifybomb-makers by the “signatures” they leave behind. TEDAC’s “bomblibrary” holds more than 100,000 IEDs found in war zones and crimescenes and has identified more than 1,000 people with potentialterrorist ties.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: How the FBI infiltrated and shut down Ross (“Dread Pirate Roberts”) Ulbricht’s Silk Road website, a $1.2 billion market that sold illegal drugs and guns in the Internet’s hidden “darknet.”

Afghan photographer Massoud Hossaini was on the scene when a suicide bombing in Kabul killed more than 70 people in 2011. Hossaini’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the attack’s aftermath showed a 12-year-old girl, bloodied and screaming, among the survivors and the dead.

Photographer Mary Chind discusses the harrowing moments when she captured scenes of a daring rescue from a rushing river for the Des Moines Register in 2009. Chind won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography the following year.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: How Boston Globe reporter Michael Rezendes went from marathon runner to breaking news reporter in the blink of an eye, and how the FBI tracked the perpetrators of the 2013 bombing.

Oded Bality, the only Israeli photographer to ever receive the Pulitzer, discusses his prize-winning photograph of a lone young Jewish woman defying Israeli officers attempting to clear illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Todd Heisler spent a year photographing the funerals of Colorado Marines who died in Iraq and the officer whose job it was to notify families of each Marine’s death. The haunting series won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

Deanne Fitzmaurice captured the emotional and physical journey of a severely injured Iraqi boy who was nearly killed by an explosion, but who was eventually saved by American doctors after traveling to California. Her photos earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

Host Sonya Gavankar and Newseum curator Carrie Christoffersen explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: the D.C. snipers who terrorized the greater Washington, D.C., area in 2002, the Bushmaster assault rifle they used to carry out their deadly attacks, and the tarot card they left near one of the shootings in an attempt to communicate with authorities.

Host Sonya Gavankar and Patty Rhule, director of exhibit development, explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: how the 9/11 attacks transformed the FBI into a counterterrorism agency and the car that transported the American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers from San Diego to Dulles Airport in Virginia.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: how toy dinosaurs, rigged with hidden cameras, helped keep watch over a tense six-day long hostage situation in Alabama in 2013.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Eyewitness News format, which was pioneered by Al Primo in Philadelphia, Pa. In this special episode of the Newseum Podcast, Primo talks about the evolution of broadcast journalism with former TV reporter and Newseum producer, Frank Bond.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: The Nissan Pathfinder that nearly became a weapon of mass destruction in New York’s Times Square in 2010. The components of the homemade bomb are on display inside the vehicle in the exhibit.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: The hat that “Most Wanted” crime boss Whitey Bulger was wearing when the FBI arrested him after a 16-year manhunt, and how new media helped the bureau track him down.

Host Sonya Gavankar and exhibits writer Ellie Stanton explore the stories and the artifacts in the Newseum’s FBI exhibit. Today’s episode: The “Ghost Stories” spies who inspired the TV series “The Americans” and the spy camera and shortwave radio they used to collect information and send it to Russia.

Photojournalist Craig Walker talks about his 2010 and 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning photo series. The first, “Ian Fisher: American Soldier,” is an intimate profile of a young man who joins the Army during the height of insurgent violence in Iraq. “Welcome Home” follows Scott Ostrom, a soldier returning home from Iraq, and highlights his personal and professional challenges living with PTSD.

Los Angeles Times photojournalist Don Bartletti discusses his 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning photo series about young Central American migrants and their journey to the United States aboard a network of Mexican freight trains informally known as “La Bestia.”

Former New York Times picture editor Margaret O’Connor recalls the newspaper’s photographs of people enduring protracted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Times’ 2001 photo series attempted to educate readers on a culture that they felt was largely unknown to America at the time and won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography the following year.

Carol Guzy won the second of her four Pulitzers – more than any other journalist – photographing the tumultuous restoration of democracy in Haiti in September 1994, when jubilation over the possible return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was punctuated with violence.

John Kaplan documented the diverse lifestyles of 21-year-olds in America and won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1992. His subjects included a murder suspect, a high school dropout, a rookie in the NFL, an illegal immigrant, a fashion model, a student at Harvard, a prostitute and the lead singer of Pantera.

In 1987, the country was glued to the story of “Baby Jessica” McClure, a toddler who fell down a well and was trapped for 2-1/2 days. When rescuers finally brought her back above ground, photographer Scott Shaw of the Odessa (Texas) American captured the emotional moment on film — and won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography the following year.

In 1986, David Peterson documented the worst rural economic crisis since the Great Depression for the Des Moines (Iowa) Register. His images of farmers fighting for their land and praying for relief, farm homes crumbling into ruin, and for-sale signs and foreclosure notices comprised a stark and moving photo essay that won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

Tom Gralish won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 at age 29 for his gritty and honest photo series of homeless people on the streets of Philadelphia. In an interview with the Newseum, he talks about getting to know the subjects of his photos as he recorded their lives on film.

Photographer James B. Dickman covered the civil war in El Salvador for the Dallas Times Herald. Dickman’s telling photographs of the war and his ability to capture powerful moments in delicate situations, such as a father carrying his child home in a casket, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1983.

When gunfire erupted as Ronald Reagan exited the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981, senior White House photographer Ron Edmonds was on the scene to capture the terrifying moments on film. His series of photographs showing the assassination attempt were seen around the world and earned him the Pulitzer Prize.

Associated Press photographer Horst Faas was based in Saigon from 1962 until 1974. In 1965, he won his first Pulitzer Prize for his combat photography of the war in South Vietnam, but winning the prize was bittersweet. Faas discusses his work in Vietnam and describes the emotional week when he won the Pulitzer and learned that one of his photojournalist colleagues had been killed by the Viet Cong.

In the spring of 1954, Los Angeles Times photographer John Gaunt captured a moment of grief on the beach between young parents whose 19-month-old child had just been swept out to sea. In an interview with the Newseum, Gaunt discusses that fateful day and how he captured the poignant and profoundly moving photo, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1955.

Chicago native John H. White was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1982 “for consistently excellent work on a variety of subjects.” His prize-winning portfolio reflected a year in the life of his home city – everything from a high school track practice in an unusual location to a museum worker brushing a dinosaur’s teeth.

Erwin Hagler won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1980 for his compelling photo series documenting the lifestyle of a cowboy. In an interview with the Newseum, he talks about the unsung heroes of the American West and why he wanted to capture their story at a time when no other newspaper had done so.

In 1980, the Pulitzer Prize was given anonymously for the first and only time in the award’s history. The Spot News Photography winner had captured a controversial image of an Iranian firing squad executing 11 prisoners, but the photo was published without his name for his protection. In 2006, the photographer’s identity was revealed and Jahangir Razmi finally received recognition as a Pulitzer Prize winner.

In 1978, photographer Thomas J. Kelly III was the first journalist on the scene of a brutal and terrifying attack by a deranged man who fatally stabbed his entire family inside their East Coventry, Pa., home. His series of photos documenting the aftermath of the incident, which left the man’s wife and unborn son dead, earned the Pulitzer Prize for Spot Photography. Kelly discusses the situation and how difficult it was for the press who covered it.

On July 22, 1975, in Boston, a 19-year-old and her 2-year-old goddaughter were trapped in a burning building. A firefighter, Robert O’Neill, shielded them from the flames as a fire ladder inched closer. Then the fire escape collapsed. Although the woman died from her injuries, the infant survived. “Fire Escape Collapse” circulated around the world, leading to new fire escape legislation across the country and earning Stanley Forman the first of two Pulitzer Prizes for spot news photography.

Brian Lanker details the special bond he shares with his famous photo of childbirth, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973, and discusses the stark contrast between his image and that year’s Spot News Photography winner of children being bombed in Vietnam.

In April 1969, racial tensions at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., came to a head on the premises of the student union building. Peaceful negotiations between administrators and students ended a 36-hour student takeover of Willard Straight Hall, but Steve Starr’s Pulitzer-winning photo of armed students leaving the building after the standoff brought national attention to the story, leading to campus reforms and legislative action.

On a sweltering summer day in Jacksonville, Florida, Electric Authority linemen were making repairs atop poles when a worker was hit with 4,160 volts of electricity. As he dangled from his safety belt, a fellow lineman breathed into him in an attempt to save his life. Photographer Rocco Morabito took pictures and prayed – and earned the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1951, the sight of an African-American player on an Oklahoma college football field was rare – and unwelcome. In a game at Oklahoma A&M University, Drake University’s Johnny Bright, one of the country’s best players, was repeatedly attacked on the field by his opponents and eventually had to be carried off with a broken jaw. The sequence of violent photos captured by Don Ultang and John Robinson caused a national outcry and earned the men a Pulitzer Prize.

One night in 1946, college student Arnold Hardy arrived home to hear firetrucks in the street at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta. He grabbed his camera and rushed to the scene, capturing the terrifying moment a woman, trying to escape the inferno, plummeted toward the street. She survived, and his photo garnered the Pulitzer Prize.

On June 8, 1972, AP Photographer Nick Ut was covering a battle in South Vietnam when napalm meant for enemy fighters fell instead on civilians. Ut captured harrowing scenes of women and children fleeing and won a Pulitzer Prize for a haunting frame of a naked 9-year-old who would come to be known as “Napalm Girl.”

Robin Hood served in Vietnam as an Army information officer and returned a photographer. At an Armed Forces Day parade in 1976, he caught sight of another veteran in the crowd whose sacrifice left him confined to a wheelchair. Hood captured the moment and earned the Pulitzer Prize.

During the Vietnam War, three photographers earned the Pulitzer Prize for now-iconic images of the war. In 1969 and 1973, the winning photos bluntly depicted the horrors of war; but the 1974 prize was awarded to Slava Veder, who captured the unbridled joy of a family welcoming home a soldier who had been a prisoner of war for six years in Vietnam.

AP photographer Eddie Adams captured this brutal moment in the Vietnam War – the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner by the chief of South Vietnam’s national police – and won a Pulitzer Prize. The anti-war movement adopted the image for their cause, but Adams, who kept in touch with the police chief after the war, said the photo wrongly stereotyped the man.

The Miami Herald’s Michel du Cille won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1988 for his depiction of the decay and desperation of a housing project caught in the grip of crack cocaine. 

New York Times photojournalists recount their experiences documenting the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 and share their thoughts about the photographs that shook the nation.

The latest episode of the Newseum Podcast features an interview with Charles Porter IV, an aspiring journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the 1995 bombing of a federal building.

David C. Turnley discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs of political uprisings in Eastern Europe and China, especially those documenting the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Pulitzer Prize winners Ken Geiger and William Snyder chat about their vibrant photographs that captured the spirit of the Olympics for the readers of The Dallas Morning News. 

Alan Diaz of The Associated Press shares the story behind his gripping photograph of federal agents seizing Elian Gonzalez that became a visual touchstone of the nationally publicized custody battle between the boy’s father in Cuba and relatives in Miami.

Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Stanley Forman talks about his striking photograph showing a protester using an American flag as a weapon in the midst of a Boston anti-busing protest in 1976.

Associated Press photojournalist Joe Rosenthal discusses his photograph of Marines planting the American flag in the midst of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.

Associated Press photographer Jack R. Thornell discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the shooting of James Meredith on his 220-mile March Against Fear by a roadside rifleman.