Catalyze Episode 13: Jim Reston ’63 on the civil rights movement, Jonestown, Vietnam War, Watergate, and outer space
Our latest podcast episode features author and playwright Jim Reston ’63, an eyewitness to—and participant in—major historical events of the last few decades: from the Civil Rights movement, to the Vietnam War, to the Watergate scandal, and more.
Jim’s father was James Reston Sr, a prominent New York Times journalist and editor—but Jim managed to blaze his own trail in the writing world. Jim has published eighteen books, three plays, and numerous articles in national magazines. His various works have been translated into many different languages, optioned by Hollywood, and included on international best-seller lists.
From 1976 to 1977, Jim advised David Frost for the famous Frost/Nixon Interviews, which 57 million people watched from around the world. His narrative of that experience, published in 2007, was the main inspiration for the hit London play, “Frost/Nixon.” In the Hollywood adaptation of the play, which was nominated for five Academy Awards, Jim’s character is played by the actor Sam Rockwell.
Jim has been a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, a fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, and a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.
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