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| The hum of helicopters, shouts from angry protestors, the roar of police motorcycles—these sounds filled the airwaves during the first broadcast of All Things Considered on May 3, 1971. “Today in the nation’s capital, it is a crime to be young and have long hair…” reported NPR’s Jeff Kamen as he covered anti-war protest activities taking place throughout Washington, DC. |
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That first story fit the mold of what would become an NPR trademark. By capturing on-the-street interviews mixed with chants of protestors, All Things Considered took listeners out of their living rooms and cars and transported them to the streets of Washington. There, they experienced the tension of angered youths in the final mass protest against U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Luckily for the first ATC staffers, it wasn’t a crime at NPR to be young and have long hair. At the time, the average age of an ATC staffer was just 26. Many of them rookies, they sometimes found it a challenge to fill a ninety-minute news show on a daily basis. |
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The program had a bumpy start and survived its first year thanks in part to the use of “panic buttons,” extended pieces of music used when a reporter’s tape failed to materialize at the right moment. Thus the term “button” for any musical break was born.
Once these youthful staffers worked through the kinks, however, they found themselves with a cult following—a core group of about 4 to 5 million listeners who tuned to ATC for its new approach to radio programming. Over the course of 90 minutes each day, listeners would hear the stories and voices of the people who make up today’s world-from the leaders of nations to everyday citizens-woven seamlessly together. The format brought the news to listeners in a fresh way. One moment found host Susan Stamberg and science reporter Ira Flatow in a dark closet testing whether Wint-O-Green Life Savers sparked when chewed. Another followed Chicago bureau chief Scott Simon through a crowd angered by a Nazi gathering in Chicago’s Marquette Park. Yet, no matter what the subject matter, ATC approached it with intelligence, curiosity and respect. |
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