It is probably natural, having worked in the mixed worlds of journalism, movies, academia, non-profit and private sector, “old” media and digital media, that I continue to get a lot of questions about my long strange career.
It is rare that a week goes by that somebody or other doesn’t call to discuss something about the way it was “back then.”
I always try to comply wit their requests, because I was a reporter for a long time and I know how many people resist such calls about what they know or remember.
Usually I’m willing to discuss pretty much anything except the identities of certain confidential sources or relationships that should not disclosed.
That leaves a pretty wide latitude for conversation. Probably the most sought-after information is about my years at Rolling Stone and specifically the Patty Hearst stories.
In 1975-6, Howard Kohn and I had three cover stories on the newspaper heiress’s kidnapping and apparent conversion to the cause of her kidnappers, the domestic terror organization calling itself the SLA.
Even mundane details of our own lives at the time seem to be of some interest and one Hollywood producer recently asked me, “Do you ever think about how amazing it is that you did all of that? That you lived through it?”
The question took me aback for a moment, but I answered, “Sometimes it feels like it was in fact someone else, not me.”
After we hung up, I stayed with that thought about it feeling like somebody’s else’s life, not mine. I suspect a lot of people feel that way about the distant past and the things that happened back then — things that sound strangely exotic now.
Given that we grow and change substantially throughout our lives it is kinda true, too, that many of us were pretty much someone else when younger. And speaking only for myself, I have no regrets about that.
(I first published this piece two years ago in January 2022.)
HEADLINES:
Neil Gorsuch has a grudge against federal agencies. He holds their fate in his hands (CNN)
Deadly Iranian Strikes in Iraq and Pakistan Inflame Regional Tensions (NYT)
Pakistan condemns deadly Iranian missile strike on its territory (BBC)
Middle East crisis live: Iran says it was targeting ‘Iranian terrorist group’ in Pakistan airstrike (Guardian)
Pakistan launches airstrikes in Iran, killing 9, after an earlier attack by Tehran (AP)
Qatar, France strike deal to supply medicine to Israeli hostages, Gazans (WP)
Secretive surveillance flights keep close watch on Russia and Ukraine (AP)
Who stands to gain from China’s demographic collapse? (Financial Times)
Authorities Investigate Threats to Democratic Lawmakers (NYT)
House Republicans hit pause on effort to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress (NBC)
Judge threatens to boot Donald Trump from courtroom over loud talking as E. Jean Carroll testifies (AP)
The main branch of a public library in Jonesboro, Arkansas, set up a display for Pride Month in June 2021. The initiative spurred community backlash that contributed to the county voting the following year to cut library funding in half — and now its staff is dealing with the repercussions. [HuffPost]
Migrants caught between shelter evictions, freezing temps (Axios)
It's not just you, Google Search really has gotten worse (Mashable)
The Self-Checkout Nightmare May Finally Be Ending(Gizmodo)
OpenAI-Backed Humanoid Maker Gets $100 Million in EQT-Led Round (Bloomberg)
Doctors are using AI to diagnose a hidden heart condition in kids (WP)
Mom Asks Phone What That One Thing Called (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment