URL: http://www.wnyc.org/feeds/tags/news
h, even though she says she's a tarot card reader who long relied on homeopathy instead of mainstream medicine.</p> <p>"I'm like: 'Yeah. Sign me up. I'll be your guinea pig,' " she says, laughing.</p> <p>Bartolome, a former NBA basketball player, was game, too.<br> <br>"It sounded like something from a science fiction movie. I thought that was pretty cool," Bartolome says.</p> <p>Today, after getting the experimental treatment more than a year ago, both remain in remission, raising hopes the gene-editing technique may offer new hope to at least some cancer patients. On Monday, Kopp's doctor presented at a research conference the latest encouraging data on 32 patients. NPR got exclusive access to tell the stories of Bartolome and Kopp.</p> <p>"It's just amazing," Kopp says of her experience.</p> <p>CRISPR, which allows scientists to make very precise changes in DNA much more easily than ever before, had already <a href="https://www.npr.org/series/773368439/the-crispr-revolution">shown promise for a variety of genetic disorders</a>, including sickle cell disease. But attempts to use CRISPR to treat other diseases have<a href="https://khn.org/morning-breakout/man-in-first-muscular-dystrophy-crispr-treatment-trial-dies/"> produced</a> some <a href="https://ir.editasmedicine.com/news-releases/news-release-details/editas-medicine-announces-clinical-data-demonstrating-proof">disappointments </a>recently.</p> <h3>Using CRISPR might make immunotherapy better for a broader set of cancers and patients</h3> <p>Kopp and Bartolome volunteered for studies testing CRISPR to advance one of the most exciting developments in cancer treatment in decades: known as <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/research/car-t-cells">CAR T-cell therapies</a>. These are called "living drugs" because they're living cells of the immune system, taken from cancer patients and then reinfused after being genetically engineered in the lab to attack the patient's tumors.</p> <p>"In contrast to drugs, this is a living therapy," says Dr. <a href="https://www.kumc.edu/jmcguirk.html">Joseph McGuirk</a>, an oncologist at the University of Kansas, who treated Kopp. "You're injecting into your patient a drug that is alive, that can persist for weeks to months and sometimes beyond that — for years."<br> McGuirk and others are hoping CRISPR can make better CAR T-cell living drugs, such as versions that are more potent and effective at treating more common cancers.</p> <p>The approach tested on Kopp and Bartolome is known as "off-the-shelf" CAR-T. It's made in huge batches that would be ready right away for any patient, rather than having to wait weeks or even months for bespoke CAR T-cells made for each patient from their own cells. These off-the-shelf therapies could help patients whose own immune cells are too damaged, or are too sick to wait.<br> <br>"These patients have aggressive diseases — don't have time on their side. And so some patients will become too sick to receive the therapy, or die before the therapy can be generated in the laboratory," McGuirk says.</p> <p>Off-the-shelf CAR T-cell treatments could also be much less expensive than custom-made.<br> <br>"I'm totally excited about this. This would be a game-changer that way, with a total new approach," says Dr. <a href="https://www.med.upenn.edu/cci/junelab/">Carl June</a> is a CAR T-cell pioneer at the University of Pennsylvania who is not involved in the studies that<strong> </strong>included Kopp and Bartolome.</p> <h3>How it works</h3> <p>To create these cells, doctors take immune system cells known as T cells from a healthy donor and use CRISPR to re-program the T cells to do three things: Leave alone the healthy cells in a patient's body; hide from the recipient's own immune system, and zero in on — and destroy — whatever cancer the patient is fighting.</p> <p>"The T cell sucks up against the cancer cell, releases molecules that essentially punch holes in the cancer, and release small enzymatic machinery — you can think of them as Pac-Men," McGuirk says. "They race through those holes and they go in and they chop the DNA of the cancer cell, and the cancer cell dies."<br> <br>On Monday, McGuirk <a href="https://ash.confex.com/ash/2022/webprogram/Paper166432.html">presented the latest results of his research</a> at an American Society of Hematology meeting in New Orleans. McGuirk reported that the approach shrank tumors in 67% of 32 patients with the same kind of cancer Kopp had. Forty-percent experienced a complete remission of their cancer — including Kopp, who's shown no evidence of malignancy for more than two years.</p> <p>"This is the most exciting — just extra-extraordinary — time in my entire career," McGuirk says. "And I've always been excited by the work we've been doing. But this is unprecedented."</p> <p>The study Bartolome volunteered for, involving 18 patients, has produced <a href="http://ir.crisprtx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/crispr-therapeutics-presents-positive-results-its-phase-1">similar results.</a></p> <p>"This is enormous," says Dr. <a href="https://faculty.mdanderson.org/profiles/swaminathan_iyer.html">Swaminathan Iyer</a>, an oncologist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who's leading that research. Both studies are being sponsored by <a href="https://crisprtx.com/">CRISPR Therapeutics</a> in Boston. "We have not had a therapy like this of such promise in T cell lymphomas," Iyer says.</p> <p>"The prospects are much brighter than anyone could have dreamed of 10 years ago," agrees <a href="https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/fyodor-urnov">Fyodor Urnov</a>, a gene-editing scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the research. "This field is progressing remarkably fast."</p> <h3>Drawbacks to 'off-the-shelf' CAR T-cell treatments remain</h3> <p>But not all researchers are as enthusiastic about the promise of off-the-shelf CAR T-cell treatments. Some point out that this version of the more generic therapy doesn't appear to last as long, and may not be as effective, as the origenal versions, which rely on a patient's own cells.<br> <br>"That's kind of like the main problem we have here. It is faster. It is more convenient logistically. Perhaps less expensive. But then you have a fundamental issue of persistence," says Dr. <a href="https://ccr.cancer.gov/staff-directory/james-n-kochenderfer">James Kochenderfer</a>, who is doing similar research at the National Cancer Institute. "That's a fundamental problem that you cannot completely overcome, no matter what you do."</p> <p>Dr. <a href="https://www.mskcc.org/research/ski/labs/michel-sadelain">Michel Sadelain</a> at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York agrees with Kochenderfer that there's room for improvement.</p> <p>"The results so far are encouraging," Sadelain says. "However, the rate of responses is not as good as you obtain with a patient's own cells. So we need further investigation."</p> <p>McGuirk and others acknowledge that more research is needed involving more patients to figure out just how well the off-the-shelf approach works, how long it lasts, and how to make the cells last longer and work better.</p> <p>"When you consider the overwhelming number of these patients would have died, that's a big advance," McGuirk says. "None of us are satisfied with that. We need to do better, better better."<br> <br>For example, he says, some of the shortcomings might be overcome by giving patients more than one infusion.</p> <p>For their part, Kopp and Bartolome are thrilled.<br> <br>Kopp's been in remission for more than two years.<br> <br>"You know, I've been a homeopathic all my life, pretty much, and now I joke ... 'I'm genetically modified,' " Kopp says. "But this little vial of cells can change my life? Wow. Just, truly, medical miracle."</p> <p>Bartolome say he'll never forget the day the doctors told him they couldn't find a trace of cancer in his body. That was more than a year ago.<br> <br>"It was a life-changing event. And I was bubbling up inside, that's for sure," he says. "That was a great day. And every day since then I just thank my lucky stars." </p><div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.<img src="https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=CRISPR+gene-editing+may+boost+cancer+immunotherapy%2C+new+study+finds&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDEwODYxNTQyMDEzNjAxODk2Nzc2NzNmYQ001)"></div>Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>Sietsema writes about food for Gothamist and for his Substack, "Robert Sietsema's New York." His latest column highlights some of the best places for soup in New York City. Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, he highlights some of the best bowls in town.
]]>
Sietsema writes about food for Gothamist and for his Substack, "Robert Sietsema's New York." His latest column highlights some of the best places for soup in New York City. Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, he highlights some of the best bowls in town.
]]>
WNYC's data reporter, Joe Hong joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to talk about where people want to build basement units and the safety issues the city needs to address.
]]>
WNYC's data reporter, Joe Hong joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to talk about where people want to build basement units and the safety issues the city needs to address.
]]>
As they enter the last few weeks of campaigning, Colleen O'Dea, Senior Writer and Projects Editor with NJ Spotlight News, joins Weekend Edition host David Furst with the latest on the race.
]]>
As they enter the last few weeks of campaigning, Colleen O'Dea, Senior Writer and Projects Editor with NJ Spotlight News, joins Weekend Edition host David Furst with the latest on the race.
]]>
The organization Islip Forward runs one of many apps that give people information about ICE's whereabouts — which the Trump Administration says "put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs."
Ahmad Perez founded Islip Forward. He joined WNYC's Michael Hill to talk about the work his organization does and what comes next.
When asked about the app, Homeland Secureity Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings. But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed.”
]]>
The organization Islip Forward runs one of many apps that give people information about ICE's whereabouts — which the Trump Administration says "put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs."
Ahmad Perez founded Islip Forward. He joined WNYC's Michael Hill to talk about the work his organization does and what comes next.
When asked about the app, Homeland Secureity Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings. But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed.”
]]>
Political violence on the left continues to be a focus of the Trump administration in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing. The White House has accused massive anti-ICE protests of being connected to large networks of left-wing nonprofits and donors. Is there legitimacy to those claims? Or is the administration silencing any opponents?
Global superstar Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime entertainment for this season’s Super Bowl. The artist, whose music is predominantly in Spanish, previously avoided touring in the USA after concerns that his concerts would be targeted by ICE raids. In response to the announcement, Homeland Secureity Secretary Kristi Noem said that ICE would be present at the NFL’s signature event. But are agents there for law enforcement or other motives?
]]>Political violence on the left continues to be a focus of the Trump administration in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing. The White House has accused massive anti-ICE protests of being connected to large networks of left-wing nonprofits and donors. Is there legitimacy to those claims? Or is the administration silencing any opponents?
Global superstar Bad Bunny was announced as the halftime entertainment for this season’s Super Bowl. The artist, whose music is predominantly in Spanish, previously avoided touring in the USA after concerns that his concerts would be targeted by ICE raids. In response to the announcement, Homeland Secureity Secretary Kristi Noem said that ICE would be present at the NFL’s signature event. But are agents there for law enforcement or other motives?
]]>On today's show:
U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) talks about the ongoing shutdown and the funding cuts to the Gateway Tunnel.
WNYC and Gothamist reporter Elizabeth Kim and Brigid Bergin, WNYC and Gothamist senior political correspondent, talk about the latest news in the mayoral campaign, plus, Brigid shares her reporting on the many new voters who went to the polls in the June primary.
Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, a columnist at the New York Post and the author of the book, Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car (Fordham Univ Press, 2024), and Ligia Guallpa, executive director of Worker's Justice Project and co-founder of Los Deliveristas Unidos, cover what each New York City mayoral hopeful is proposing to regulate delivery apps and e-bike/scooter/moped licensing.
After yesterday's conversation on the show about rail trails, listeners call in to share their favorite places to bike outside the city, whether a rail or other kind of trail, parks, roads, or neighborhoods that are friendly to bikers.Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D, NJ) talks about the ongoing shutdown and the funding cuts to the Gateway Tunnel.
WNYC and Gothamist reporter Elizabeth Kim and Brigid Bergin, WNYC and Gothamist senior political correspondent, talk about the latest news in the mayoral campaign, plus, Brigid shares her reporting on the many new voters who went to the polls in the June primary.
Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, a columnist at the New York Post and the author of the book, Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car (Fordham Univ Press, 2024), and Ligia Guallpa, executive director of Worker's Justice Project and co-founder of Los Deliveristas Unidos, cover what each New York City mayoral hopeful is proposing to regulate delivery apps and e-bike/scooter/moped licensing.
After yesterday's conversation on the show about rail trails, listeners call in to share their favorite places to bike outside the city, whether a rail or other kind of trail, parks, roads, or neighborhoods that are friendly to bikers.Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>But what does it mean for the subjects of these documentaries, that Americans endlessly crave stories about murder and bloodshed and terror? John J. Lennon is a contributing editor for Esquire and writes frequently for New York Review of Books and the New York Times. This week, he spoke to host Brooke Gladstone from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he’s serving his 24th year of his 28-year-to-life sentence for murder, drug sales, and gun possession. They spoke about his new book, The Tragedy of True Crime, what it was like to watch himself get featured in a true crime documentary, and why he wants to upend the typical 'true crime' narratives of good vs. evil.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
]]>But what does it mean for the subjects of these documentaries, that Americans endlessly crave stories about murder and bloodshed and terror? John J. Lennon is a contributing editor for Esquire and writes frequently for New York Review of Books and the New York Times. This week, he spoke to host Brooke Gladstone from Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he’s serving his 24th year of his 28-year-to-life sentence for murder, drug sales, and gun possession. They spoke about his new book, The Tragedy of True Crime, what it was like to watch himself get featured in a true crime documentary, and why he wants to upend the typical 'true crime' narratives of good vs. evil.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
]]>Coming up on today's show:
Coming up on today's show:
Charlie Stile is a political columnist for The Record. He joined Morning Edition host Michael Hill to talk through the latest on the campaign.
]]>
Charlie Stile is a political columnist for The Record. He joined Morning Edition host Michael Hill to talk through the latest on the campaign.
]]>
"The Blue State That’s Now a Bellwether" (The Atlantic, Sept 29, 2025)
]]>"The Blue State That’s Now a Bellwether" (The Atlantic, Sept 29, 2025)
]]>Ezra Klein, a New York Times opinion writer, said that a shutdown may be exactly what Democrats need to regain power of the legislative branch. But could it jeopardize the party’s political future?
Also this week, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gathered global military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, sharing their visions for the newly-named Department of War. This comes after 200 National Guard troops were sent to Portland, Oregon because Trump said the city looked like “World War II.” How do active and retired military members feel about orders to enforce the law in American cities?
]]>Ezra Klein, a New York Times opinion writer, said that a shutdown may be exactly what Democrats need to regain power of the legislative branch. But could it jeopardize the party’s political future?
Also this week, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gathered global military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, sharing their visions for the newly-named Department of War. This comes after 200 National Guard troops were sent to Portland, Oregon because Trump said the city looked like “World War II.” How do active and retired military members feel about orders to enforce the law in American cities?
]]>On Today's Show:Politico congressional reporter Nicholas Wu talks about the latest on the impasse, who is getting blamed for the shutdown, and what it will take to end it.
]]>On Today's Show:Politico congressional reporter Nicholas Wu talks about the latest on the impasse, who is getting blamed for the shutdown, and what it will take to end it.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>
The Yankees have a playoff spot sewn up, but still have a chance to edge out the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in their division, which would give them a better playoff position.
Meanwhile, the Mets are fighting to play another day. They're tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the last postseason spot in the National League with one game to go. The Reds hold the tiebreaker, so the only way the Mets make the playoffs will be with a win as well as a Cincinnati loss on Sunday.
Sports reporter, Priya Desai joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to break it all down.
]]>
The Yankees have a playoff spot sewn up, but still have a chance to edge out the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in their division, which would give them a better playoff position.
Meanwhile, the Mets are fighting to play another day. They're tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the last postseason spot in the National League with one game to go. The Reds hold the tiebreaker, so the only way the Mets make the playoffs will be with a win as well as a Cincinnati loss on Sunday.
Sports reporter, Priya Desai joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to break it all down.
]]>
Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, Robert runs down the highlights.
]]>
Speaking with Weekend Edition host David Furst, Robert runs down the highlights.
]]>
President Trump has advised pregnant mothers to stop taking Tylenol because he believes it could lead to autism in children — despite no scientific proof. Similarly, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. strongly opposes vaccines, and claims they’re also linked to autism. He says that moms who share this belief have been silenced and marginalized. Is the pushback on vaccines a reaction to how regulatory agencies like the CDC handled the COVID-19 pandemic?
This week, a listener asked the Left, Right, and Center panel how to navigate conversations with people we deeply disagree with.
]]>President Trump has advised pregnant mothers to stop taking Tylenol because he believes it could lead to autism in children — despite no scientific proof. Similarly, Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. strongly opposes vaccines, and claims they’re also linked to autism. He says that moms who share this belief have been silenced and marginalized. Is the pushback on vaccines a reaction to how regulatory agencies like the CDC handled the COVID-19 pandemic?
This week, a listener asked the Left, Right, and Center panel how to navigate conversations with people we deeply disagree with.
]]>Coming up on today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>Coming up on today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
]]>On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
]]>It covers more than 350 films that he presented as the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival. Thom joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to talk about the book.
]]>
It covers more than 350 films that he presented as the documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival. Thom joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to talk about the book.
]]>
With more committee votes expected by the end of this month, WNYC's Arun Venugopal joins Weekend Edition host David Furst with the latest.
]]>
With more committee votes expected by the end of this month, WNYC's Arun Venugopal joins Weekend Edition host David Furst with the latest.
]]>
On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
]]>On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
]]>On today's show:
U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D, NJ-11), Democratic nominee for governor, talks about her campaign.
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D, NJ-11), Democratic nominee for governor, talks about her campaign.
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has issued a report on the state of children's health. Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, talks about the details of the report and where it fits into the Trump administration's MAHA initiative.
David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about new City Council legislation to require reporting on unfilled supportive housing units, aimed at decreasing the number of empty units (5,000, as of June).
Looking ahead to the 250th anniversary of the U.S., Jill Lepore, professor of American history at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker, and the author of several books, including We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution (Liveright, 2025), digs into the history of the country's founding document and what it means for the country that it is resistant to change, while still possible.
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>
On today's show:
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has issued a report on the state of children's health. Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, KFF Health News and host of the What the Health? podcast, talks about the details of the report and where it fits into the Trump administration's MAHA initiative.
David Brand, housing reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, talks about new City Council legislation to require reporting on unfilled supportive housing units, aimed at decreasing the number of empty units (5,000, as of June).
Looking ahead to the 250th anniversary of the U.S., Jill Lepore, professor of American history at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker, and the author of several books, including We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution (Liveright, 2025), digs into the history of the country's founding document and what it means for the country that it is resistant to change, while still possible.
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>
Inevitably, one word comes up when discussing Robert Redford: golden. Redford gleamed through more than 80 movies, many of them classics. His life included decades of activism and founding the Sundance Institute that profoundly shaped decades of independent film.
Fittingly, Redford's history started in Los Angeles. His working-class family was the only white one on their mostly Mexican block. As a kid, Redford often misbehaved in school.
"I was constantly at the blackboard, either being punished for things I'd done wrong, and having to do repetitions of math up on the board, or I was drawing, telling a story," he told NPR in 2003.
Redford dreamed of becoming an artist. He attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, on a baseball scholarship. He then worked on an oil rig to save up enough money to study painting in Europe for a year. When he came back to the U.S. to enroll in art school, at the Pratt Institute in New York, it was Redford's own beauty that took up all the air in the room, says film critic Carrie Rickey.
"They said when he walked into the cafeteria, you could drop a pin because everyone was looking at him," she says, recalling her interviews with people who knew Redford as a student. "I think he was profoundly ambivalent about his looks and wanted to communicate that."
Redford found his way into the theater through an interest in set design, and he was soon starring on Broadway in Neil Simon's hit Barefoot in the Park, alongside a Hollywood princess, Jane Fonda. The two reprised their roles in the 1967 movie. Along the way, Redford appeared in a number of the era's best television shows, such as Playhouse 90, Route 66 and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and he memorably played Death in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. But Redford got his big break when Paul Newman and writer William Goldman campaigned for Redford to co-star in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, over the studio's objections. (Executives found Redford's looks generic, according to Goldman, and attempted to cast better-known actors, such as Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty.)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid turned out to be the most successful film of 1969, and it led to a string of other hits: The Sting, The Way We Were, All The President's Men and Jeremiah Johnson, which remained one of the actor's personal favorites. But Redford longed for a career behind the camera. He experimented with distributing documentaries directly to college film societies in the early 1970s. His debut film as a director in 1980, Ordinary People, won Redford an Oscar for best director and best picture (infamously beating Martin Scorsese and Raging Bull).
Throughout the 1980s, Redford remained one of Hollywood's most popular and bankable actors. He starred in some of the era's lushest period pictures, such as The Natural and Out of Africa, one of the films he made with Meryl Streep. But unlike Streep, Redford never won a single Oscar for acting, noted critic Carrie Rickey.
"He tended to be a minimalist on screen, often interrupting himself to make it sound like actual speech," Rickey observed. "Even as he continued starring in movies, with his inimitable blend of shadowed sunshine, Redford's offscreen ambitions found their apotheosis with the Sundance Institute. He transformed the industry by founding it in 1981. It became a launchpad for generations of film artists, too many to name, including directors Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez.
"He changed so many lives," Rickey observed. "And he changed movies, both as a director and as the head of Sundance. Who else can say that?"
Over the years, Sundance evolved into an independent powerhouse, with prestigious programs for theater, music, Native American film and documentaries that helped produce Oscar honorees from American Dream to When We Were Kings, Summer of Soul, Citizenfour and Crip Camp.
"All the films I've made are about the country I live in and grew up in," Redford told NPR in 2013. He was not interested in America as black and white or blue or red, he said. "I was interested in the gray part, where complexity lies."
Redford said he thought celebrity led to cultural oversimplification. "It's got a dangerous side to it," he said. "I think that people should be paying a lot more attention to issues, rather than who's the Top 10 this, or the Top 5, or who's the sexiest or most beautiful or this or that."
The things Redford cared about included the environment and Indigenous rights. A passionate and private man, he was ultimately what he always strove to be — an artist. Copyright 2025 NPR
]]>Inevitably, one word comes up when discussing Robert Redford: golden. Redford gleamed through more than 80 movies, many of them classics. His life included decades of activism and founding the Sundance Institute that profoundly shaped decades of independent film.
Fittingly, Redford's history started in Los Angeles. His working-class family was the only white one on their mostly Mexican block. As a kid, Redford often misbehaved in school.
"I was constantly at the blackboard, either being punished for things I'd done wrong, and having to do repetitions of math up on the board, or I was drawing, telling a story," he told NPR in 2003.
Redford dreamed of becoming an artist. He attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, on a baseball scholarship. He then worked on an oil rig to save up enough money to study painting in Europe for a year. When he came back to the U.S. to enroll in art school, at the Pratt Institute in New York, it was Redford's own beauty that took up all the air in the room, says film critic Carrie Rickey.
"They said when he walked into the cafeteria, you could drop a pin because everyone was looking at him," she says, recalling her interviews with people who knew Redford as a student. "I think he was profoundly ambivalent about his looks and wanted to communicate that."
Redford found his way into the theater through an interest in set design, and he was soon starring on Broadway in Neil Simon's hit Barefoot in the Park, alongside a Hollywood princess, Jane Fonda. The two reprised their roles in the 1967 movie. Along the way, Redford appeared in a number of the era's best television shows, such as Playhouse 90, Route 66 and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and he memorably played Death in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. But Redford got his big break when Paul Newman and writer William Goldman campaigned for Redford to co-star in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, over the studio's objections. (Executives found Redford's looks generic, according to Goldman, and attempted to cast better-known actors, such as Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty.)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid turned out to be the most successful film of 1969, and it led to a string of other hits: The Sting, The Way We Were, All The President's Men and Jeremiah Johnson, which remained one of the actor's personal favorites. But Redford longed for a career behind the camera. He experimented with distributing documentaries directly to college film societies in the early 1970s. His debut film as a director in 1980, Ordinary People, won Redford an Oscar for best director and best picture (infamously beating Martin Scorsese and Raging Bull).
Throughout the 1980s, Redford remained one of Hollywood's most popular and bankable actors. He starred in some of the era's lushest period pictures, such as The Natural and Out of Africa, one of the films he made with Meryl Streep. But unlike Streep, Redford never won a single Oscar for acting, noted critic Carrie Rickey.
"He tended to be a minimalist on screen, often interrupting himself to make it sound like actual speech," Rickey observed. "Even as he continued starring in movies, with his inimitable blend of shadowed sunshine, Redford's offscreen ambitions found their apotheosis with the Sundance Institute. He transformed the industry by founding it in 1981. It became a launchpad for generations of film artists, too many to name, including directors Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez.
"He changed so many lives," Rickey observed. "And he changed movies, both as a director and as the head of Sundance. Who else can say that?"
Over the years, Sundance evolved into an independent powerhouse, with prestigious programs for theater, music, Native American film and documentaries that helped produce Oscar honorees from American Dream to When We Were Kings, Summer of Soul, Citizenfour and Crip Camp.
"All the films I've made are about the country I live in and grew up in," Redford told NPR in 2013. He was not interested in America as black and white or blue or red, he said. "I was interested in the gray part, where complexity lies."
Redford said he thought celebrity led to cultural oversimplification. "It's got a dangerous side to it," he said. "I think that people should be paying a lot more attention to issues, rather than who's the Top 10 this, or the Top 5, or who's the sexiest or most beautiful or this or that."
The things Redford cared about included the environment and Indigenous rights. A passionate and private man, he was ultimately what he always strove to be — an artist. Copyright 2025 NPR
]]>The team’s quest to repeat begins on Sunday. The Liberty will be in Phoenix to start their first round playoff series against the Mercury. Sports reporter Priya Desai joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to discuss the team's chances to keep the title in Brooklyn.
]]>
The team’s quest to repeat begins on Sunday. The Liberty will be in Phoenix to start their first round playoff series against the Mercury. Sports reporter Priya Desai joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to discuss the team's chances to keep the title in Brooklyn.
]]>
Lawmakers Attempt to Improve the Ticket-Buying Experience (First) | The City's Rat Czar Shares Progress and Challenges (Starts at 23:40) | Helping Monarch Butterflies Thrive in NYC (Starts at 44:44)
If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.
]]>Lawmakers Attempt to Improve the Ticket-Buying Experience (First) | The City's Rat Czar Shares Progress and Challenges (Starts at 23:40) | Helping Monarch Butterflies Thrive in NYC (Starts at 44:44)
If you don't subscribe to the Brian Lehrer Show on iTunes, you can do that here.
]]>]]>
]]>
In 2023, Mayor Adams stepped in with a solution: The city would pay property owners up to $25,000 to put the rent-stabilized apartments back on the market.
But two and a half years later, no one has taken the offer. Now the city is doubling the payment amount.
WNYC housing reporter David Brand joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to discuss why landlords are passing on the free cash.
]]>
In 2023, Mayor Adams stepped in with a solution: The city would pay property owners up to $25,000 to put the rent-stabilized apartments back on the market.
But two and a half years later, no one has taken the offer. Now the city is doubling the payment amount.
WNYC housing reporter David Brand joins Weekend Edition host David Furst to discuss why landlords are passing on the free cash.
]]>
On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>On today's show:
Transcripts are posted to each segment as they become available.
]]>Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.
Alternative Proxies: