TELL ME MORE
Michel Martin is curious about many things. "I wonder what it's like to leave everything and everyone you know for the promise of a better life, to run for President, to be a professional athlete, to parent children of a different race," she notes. "I am fascinated by people who live lives different from my own. And at the same time, I feel connected to all of these lives being a journalist, a woman of color, a wife and mother."
All these topics — from immigration to parenting in a multicultural family — are part of Tell Me More, the new one-hour daily NPR news talk show that made its national premiere on April 30 on public radio stations around the country.
Martin, who came to NPR in January 2006 to develop the program, has spent more than 25 years as a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Tell Me More marks her debut as a full-time public radio show host. "What makes public radio special is that it's got both intimacy and reach all at once. For the cost of a phone call, I can take you around the world. But I'm right there with you in your car, in your living room or kitchen or office, in your iPod. Radio itself is an incredible tool and when you combine that with the global resources of NPR plus the commitment to quality, responsibility and civility, it's an unbeatable combination."
While working on the development of Tell Me More, Martin also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR newsmagazines and talk shows, including Talk of the Nation and News & Notes.
Martin joined NPR from ABC News, where she worked since 1992. She served as correspondent for Nightline from 1996 to 2006, reporting on such subjects as the Congressional budget battles, the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, racial profiling and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At ABC, she also contributed to numerous programs and specials, including the network's award-winning coverage of September 11, a documentary on the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas controversy, a critically acclaimed AIDS special and reports for the ongoing series "America in Black and White." Martin reported for the ABC newsmagazine Day One, winning an Emmy for her coverage of the international campaign to ban the use of landmines, and was a regular panelist on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. She also hosted the 13-episode series Life 360, an innovative program partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting and Nightline incorporating documentary film, performance and personal narrative; it aired on public television stations across the country.
Before joining ABC, Martin covered state and local politics for the Washington Post and national politics and policy at the Wall Street Journal, where she was White House correspondent. She has also been a regular panelist on the PBS series Washington Week and a contributor to NOW with Bill Moyers.
Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Joan Barone Award for Excellence in Washington-based National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcasting from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association and a 2002 Silver Gavel Award, given by the American Bar Association. Along with her Emmy award, she received three additional Emmy nominations, including one with NPR's Robert Krulwich, at the time an ABC contributor as well, for an ABC News program examining children's racial attitudes.
A native of Brooklyn, NY, Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1980 and has done graduate work at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She is married to Washington attorney William (Billy) Martin and their blended family includes two older daughters and twin toddlers.
THE MICHAEL ERIC DYSON SHOW
Hailed as one of the nation’s most inspiring African Americans, Michael Eric Dyson — a a two-time NAACP Image Award winner and named by Ebony magazine as one of the 100 most influential black Americans — has been credited with revitalizing the role of the public intellectual with the fervor of an ordained Baptist minister.
Infusing intellectual endeavors with popular culture, Dyson focuses on topics of interest to the public. He eloquently melds scholarly insight with the phenomena of contemporary culture, emphasizing their interconnectedness and force in shaping our society.
His seventeen books provide some of the most significant commentary on modern social and intellectual thought, interwoven with a combination of cultural criticism, race theory, religion, philosophical reflection, and gender studies. Works such as Making Malcolm; I May Not Get There With You; Holler If You Hear Me; Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye; Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?; and more recently, Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster, deeply probe social themes and cultural politics. His latest book is the New York Times bestseller April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Death and How It Changed America. And in May, Dyson will publish Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson.
A popular professor of sociology at Georgetown University, Dyson bridges gaps between generations, connecting civil rights identity to hip-hop culture while forging links between older and younger Americans, especially black Americans. As a cutting-edge cultural critic, he educates the general public on the significance of race theory, social analysis, cultural criticism, hip hop, sexual politics, among other subjects — not only in understanding black culture, but American culture, as well. With his powerful voice, Dyson reaches beyond race, addressing the universal commonality of American concern.
Award-winning author, scholar and social commentator Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is the host of a one-hour weekday news/talk radio show which is set to launch on April 6, 2009. The Michael Eric Dyson Show is confirmed to air Monday through Friday in eighteen markets, including Baltimore (WEAA-FM); Atlanta (WCLK-AM); Raleigh-Durham (WSHA-FM and WNCU-FM); Houston (KTSU-FM); and Las Vegas (KCEP-FM). “It is an honor to be at the helm of a show that is dedicated to providing valuable information, generating discussion about news of the day and the issues which affect our world, and giving a voice to those making a difference,” says host Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. “There are several topics about which I care deeply – politics, religion, economic policy, arts and culture – which will be regularly represented on the show. I hope that we will grow to become a go-to source for listeners who want to think, reflect and engage.”
The show will consist of three segment blocks: A) newsmaker guest interviews; B) roundtable discussions on politics, religion and the economy, as well as a weekly bloggers’ roundtable; and C) arts & entertainment/culture guest interviews. Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is confirmed as the show’s first guest. Other confirmed guests to appear on the show within its first two weeks include: Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Spike Lee, Hill Harper, Donna Brazile, Samuel L. Jackson and Wendy Kopp, Founder of Teach for America. “We are thrilled to be working with Michael Eric Dyson on this show, which will be a daily journey capitalizing on his strength and interest in critical social analysis. As such, Dr. Dyson will bring a tremendous amount of wisdom, insight and thought provoking discussion to listeners, sparking conversations that we hope will commence on the airwaves and continue beyond the show into communities around the country,” comments Loretta Rucker, Executive Director of the African-American Public Radio Consortium.
The Michael Eric Dyson Show is created and produced by the African-American Public Radio Consortium in partnership with consortium member station WEAA-FM, located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the campus of historically black university Morgan State University. The Michael Eric Dyson Show marks the Consortium’s first program that will be self-produced in partnership with a member station. “This is an exciting opportunity for us at WEAA-FM. To play a part in the development of a show that is sure to become a key source of information, with a host who brings so much to the table, is something that we as a member station fully endorse and support. We hope that The Michael Eric Dyson Show is the first of many such joint ventures with the African American Public Radio Consortium,” remarks LaFontaine Oliver, General Manager of WEAA-FM.
The Consortium and National Public Radio have worked as partners for the past eight years to create programs that serve more culturally diverse audiences. Their first project, The Tavis Smiley Show, which debuted in 2002, was the first African-American focused show to air on the network. The partnership followed up with the creation of News & Notes with hosts Ed Gordon and Farai Chideya in 2005, and Tell Me More with host Michel Martin in 2007. “This is a wonderful development. We are eager to see the show evolve and wish the Consortium team and Michael Eric Dyson great success. NPR will support the AAPRC in every way that we can as they begin this new chapter,” said Margaret Low Smith, NPR’s VP for Programming.