Neal Conan
Award winning journalist Neal Conan was the final host of Talk of the Nation, which broadcast its final show on June 27, 2013.
Conan brought decades of news and radio experience to the program, which reached over 3.5 million listeners per week on more than 400 NPR member stations. The program featured the popular Political Junkie segment on Wednesdays, with the irrepressible Ken Rudin.
A familiar voice, Conan joined NPR in 1977, and worked as a reporter based in New York, Washington and London. He served as NPR's Bureau Chief in both New York and London and anchored live coverage of many live events, including national political conventions, confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees and a presidential impeachment. For five years, he hosted Weekly Edition: The Best of NPR News. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Conan played a major role as an anchor of NPR's continuous live coverage, a role he reprised during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2004, he hosted the first radio-only presidential candidates' debate since 1948.
On the other side of the microphone, Conan has also served as editor, producer, and executive producer of NPR's flagship evening newsmagazine, All Things Considered and, at various times, acted as NPR's foreign editor, managing editor, and news director.
Conan's awards include a Major Armstrong award for his coverage of the Iran-Iraq War, a prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award as part of NPR's coverage of the Gulf War, another duPont and a George Foster Peabody Award for his part in NPR's Coverage of Sept. 11 and yet another duPont for NPR's coverage of the war in Iraq. During his time at All Things Considered, the program won numerous awards, including the Washington Journalism Review's Best in the Business award.
During the 2000 baseball season, Conan took a leave of absence from NPR News to work as the play-by-play announcer for the Aberdeen Arsenal of the independent Atlantic League. He filed a series of commentaries about life on the fringe of professional sports for Morning Edition and later wrote a book about his experiences, Play By Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League.
Conan tours nationally with Ensemble Galilei as the narrator and host of A Universe of Dreams, which features images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and First Person: Seeing America, which features selected images from the photography collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Conan was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
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Where does your garbage go after you put it out on the curb? Host Neal Conan talks with a woman who actually followed the trail of her own trash.
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On July 16, 1945, a successful atomic test in the New Mexico desert launched the nuclear age. Weeks later, U.S. planes dropped A-bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ending the war in the Pacific. Neal Conan and guests discuss the 60th anniversary of the Trinity Test Site explosion.
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The Catholic Church has a new pope. Former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected Tuesday to be the new leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics. Neal Conan talks with guests and takes listener calls about Pope Benedict XVI and what challenges lie ahead for him.
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Utah officials replace the driver's licenses of undocumented workers with "driving privilege cards" that can't be used as legal identification. Congress is a debating a similar concept to fight terrorism and illegal immigration. Neal Conan and guests discuss the pros and cons of Real ID.
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Japanese comics, called manga, take up more and more space on American bookshelves, and they've infused new life into the publishing industry. Neal Conan and guests discuss the growing influence of Japanese culture in America.
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Voters in Afghanistan and Ukraine embraced democracy. Iraqi insurgents call it an "evil principle." Almost everyone agrees it's a work in progress. We examine what it means when a nation moves toward democracy.
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The new Secretary of Education and a cartoon rabbit are at the center of a controversy over censorship. Did a letter from Secretary Margaret Spellings prompt PBS to pull a children's program that indirectly referred to homosexuality? The bunny in question is Buster, the star of the children's show Postcards from Buster.
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Spies spend their whole careers hiding secrets from family and close friends. Yet, when they retire, they don't necessarily disappear into history. Many of them turn around and publish memoirs. We discuss what's behind the urge to spy and tell. Is it bad for sources — or the agencies? -
James Cameron's new project combines two of his longstanding pursuits: deep-sea diving and alien life. The successful director says the fact that the animals in question live deep in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean doesn't make them any less foreign. Hear Cameron and NPR's Neal Conan.
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Sen. John Kerry concedes the state of Ohio's 20 electoral votes, solidifying President Bush's victory in the election. Kerry and his running-mate, Sen. John Edwards, had been reluctant to bow out of the race. Hear NPR's Ron Elving and NPR's Neal Conan.
