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Peggy Noonan Discusses Writing Presidential Speeches.

Speechwriter Peggy Noonan. In 1984 she was hired away from CBS news to write speeches for Ronald Reagan. She wrote the elegy to the heroes of D-Day that Reagan delivered in Normandy 1984, his description of the contras as the "moral equal of our Founding Fathers," and his eulogy to the Challenger astronauts in 1986: "We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God." She writes occasionally for George Bush, having coined such phrases as, "a thousand points of light." Her new book, "What I Saw at The Revolution," is an account of her time at the Reagan White House. (published by Random House, New York.)

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Other segments from the episode on February 14, 1990

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, February 14, 1990: Interview with Peggy Noonan; Commentary on kissing; Interview with Valerie Martin; Review of John Kenneth Galbraith's novel "A Tenured Professor."
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11:08

A Reworking of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Novelist and professor Valerie Martin. She's been called the "heir apparent to Edgar Allen Poe." She's taken the Robert Louis Stevenson classic tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and given it a new twist. Her new historical novel, "Mary Reilly," tells the story of Jekyll's descent into madness from the point of view of Mary, a Victorian maid in Jekyll's household. Mary escaped the squalor and brutality of the slums to become a servant. As she becomes Jekyll's confidant she's once again drawn into the underworld she sought to escape.

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03:37

Economists are Crazy.

Book critic John Leonard reviews economist John Kenneth Galbraith's first novel in 22 years.

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03:42

A Fun, but Disorienting Memoir.

Book critic John Leonard reviews presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan's book "What I Saw At the Revolution" about her experiences writing speeches for Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Some of their most memorable lines, like "Read my lips" and "A thousand points of light" were written by Noonan. (Published by Random House).

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43:37

Former White House Adviser Karen Hughes

Hughes was counselor to President George W. Bush until she stepped down to spend more time with her family. She also ran his presidential campaign and was his communications director during his stint as governor of Texas. Now she's back advising the president on his re-election campaign. Hughes has written the new memoir, Ten Minutes from Normal.

Interview
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43:25

As hip-hop turns 50, Biggie Smalls' legacy reminds us of what the genre has survived

Joining us today to talk about the life and legacy of the Notorious B.I.G. is journalist Justin Tinsley. He's the author of the book "It Was All A Dream: Biggie And The World That Made Him." In the book, Tinsley explores Biggie's life in the context of not only rap, but the wider cultural and political forces that shaped him, including immigration, Reagan-era politics, the war on drugs and mass incarceration.

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50:27

What evolution reveals about eating, dieting and fat

DANIEL LIEBERMAN, author of the new book Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals about Food, Diet, Health and Eating Well. He’s a professor of biological Sciences at Harvard. And he's the founding chair of Harvard's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. As part of his research, he tried a series of diets to see how his body reacted, including the Atkins diet and lesser known diets like the Blue Zone diet. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW).

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Remembering Irish singer–songwriter Glen Hansard

Best-known for his band The Frames and his part in the 2007 film Once, Hansard got his start as a street busker in Dublin. He died July 29 in a motorcycle crash. Originally broadcast in 2008.

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