Dave Davies

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Roberta Shorrock directs the show.

For Terry Gross, Antonia Mosley, I'm Dave Davies.

This is Fresh Air.

I'm Dave Davies.

If you're a regular NPR listener, you may already know that Public Radio lost one of its iconic figures last week with the death of Susan Stamberg, a host of all things considered in the network's formative years.

She was 87.

Stamberg wasn't just an influential voice on Public Radio.

She was the first woman to anchor a nightly national news program when she took the host's chair in 1972.

Her work has been honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award, induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame, and in 2020, her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Today we're going to listen to excerpts of two of Terry Gross' interviews with Susan Stamberg, and another with Stamberg and Bill Seemering, the creator of All Things Considered, and for nine years the station manager at WHYY, where our show is produced.

Susan Stanberg grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and attended Barnard College.

She broke into journalism as an editorial assistant at The New Republic and became a producer at station WAMU in Washington before being hired at NPR.

She was a production assistant when All Things Considered was launched, but soon moved into the anchor's chair and became one of the network's most recognized voices.

She was known for her incisive questions as well as her personal warmth and versatility, handling topics from international crises to her mother's cranberry relish recipe, which she shared for years around Thanksgiving.

She was also a distinguished public radio innovator.

As the first host of Weekend Edition Sunday, she introduced listeners to The Puzzle with Will Shorts and two wisecracking auto mechanics, Tom and Ray Maliazzi, who themselves became public radio icons.

After Weekend Edition, Stanberg became a special correspondent for the network focusing on cultural issues.