1968 all over again? Heather Hendershot and Ted Koppel on a year for the media to remember.

The Kicker

The Democrats are gathering in Chicago next week, and the sitting president has dropped out of the race. But as the guests on today’s podcast remind us, that doesn’t mean history is repeating itself.

In 1968, Ted Koppel was just back from a tour covering the war in Vietnam, and assigned to the comparatively tame—if, as he reminds us, not without its moments—presidential campaign of Republican Richard Nixon.

Over on the Democratic side, as historian Heather Hendershot writes in her recent book, When the News Broke: 1968 and the Polarizing of America, the media were about to get a rough introduction to how much audience appetites for news were shifting.

For more reminiscences on the politics of ‘68—and its present-day lessons for the news media—in CJR’s special report, reported by Kevin Lind.

Hosted by Josh Hersh
Produced by Amanda Darrach
Research by Kevin Lind
Episode Website