Recent Interviews

We have over 900 interviews in our collection, most of which are available for viewing online. See the most recently uploaded interviews below.

Margaret Loesch

Tue, 07/09/2019

In her four-hour archive interview, Margaret Loesch talks about her early years, and her first jobs, including working for animation legend Friz Freeling. She speaks of going to work for Hanna-Barbera, where she worked on Scooby Doo, and developed the smash hit cartoon The Smurfs. She discusses the Children's Television Act of 1990, and her effort to create television that both entertained and informed children, for the public good. Loesch recalls working with Stan Lee...

Carl Gottlieb

Tue, 07/02/2019

In his five-and-a-half hour interview, Carl Gottlieb talks about his early years, and joining The Committee improv group in San Francisco. He discusses working with various members of that group, including Peter Bonerz, Del Close, and Avery Schreiber, and later collaborating with Howard Hesseman and Rob Reiner. He recounts writing for The Summer Brothers Smothers Show, which lead to a writing job on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Gottlieb recalls the tumultuous years on...

Cokie Roberts

Tue, 06/25/2019

In her one-hour interview, Cokie Roberts discusses her early years as the daughter of Congressman Hale Boggs, and how the assassination of President John F. Kennedy shaped her politically. She discusses breaking into broadcasting, and the challenges a woman faced in doing so at the time. She recalls going to work for The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and NPR, and later being hired by ABC News. Roberts talks about being a panelist on This Week with David Brinkley, and...

Martha Quinn

Thu, 05/30/2019

In her two-hour interview, Martha Quinn talks about her early years, and music she saw on television while growing up, on shows like The Midnight Special, Soul Train, and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. She recounts being hired by Robert W. Pittman to be one of MTV’s first VJs, along with Nina Blackwood, J.J. Jackson, Alan Hunter, and Mark Goodman. She speaks of the early years of MTV, the visual style of the channel, and the kinds of videos MTV ran at its launch. Quinn...

Jodi Mancuso

Fri, 05/17/2019

In her two-hour interview, Jodi Mancuso talks about her early life, and how she followed her mother into a career as a hair stylist. She describes stepping away from hair to raise a child, and eventually going back to it to work on Saturday Night Live. She chronicles the crazy atmosphere during Saturday Night Live’s live broadcasts, and recounts a typical workweek styling wigs for the cast members and the hosts of the show. She specifically recalls working with several cast...

Peter Arnett

Tue, 05/07/2019

In his five-hour interview, Peter Arnett talks about his early years, and his first journalism jobs, at newspapers like "The Southland Times" and "The Sydney Sun." He describes his time at the Associated Press, first in Laos, and later in Indonesia. He chronicles reporting on the Vietnam War for the AP, where his coverage of the Tet Offensive received complaints from the Johnson Administration. He recalls being hired by then-fledgling cable news outlet CNN, where he filed several reports as...

Hal Gurnee

Tue, 04/23/2019

In his four-hour interview, Hal Gurnee talks about his early years, and his first job in television, working at the DuMont Network with stars like Dennis James and Jackie Gleason. He describes starting as a director on Tonight Starring Jack Paar, detailing many aspects of the show, including favorite guests, announcer Hugh Downs, trips to Cuba and the Berlin Wall, and Paar’s infamous walk-out. He recounts directing a few other talk and variety shows, like The Jimmy Dean Show...