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Author tells story of military working dogs at NPC Book Rap
The emotional bond between military dogs and their handlers has made combat for the human soldiers easier, Rebecca Frankel says in her new book "War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, And Love." “There was something about having a dog there that not softened the experience but allowed them to keep more of their humanity intact,” Frankel said at a National Press Club Book Rap on Wednesday. Veterans of several conflicts, including War II, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, told Frankel they "can come back more whole because they had the comfort and companionship of a dog.” Dogs have helped…
Type: News
Janis Joplin's road manager takes audience back to the 1960s
John Byrne Cooke, road manager for Janis Joplin from 1967 until her death, talked about his new book "On the Road With Janis Joplin" at the National Press Club Oct. 28. Cooke explained why Janis Joplin was in three different bands in 3 years. He said she was looking for new challenges and never “jelled” with the first 2 bands. Her intelligence and ability to articulate enabled her to know and communicate what she wanted in the music, he said. Cooke thinks she might have done a country album if she had lived. "Me and Bobby McGee" is a country song and the audience loved it when she performed…
Type: News
Actor and radio host Astin emphasizes preparation and research for public discourse
Actor and radio host Sean Astin underlined the importance of research and preparation as he described his experience of public discourse at the National Press Club Oct. 27. His celebrity, he said, has “bought a seat at the influencers table. And I may not be able to win a hand, but I’m going to sit down and play because…it’s my God-given, natural and constitutionally-protected right to try.” The film and television star played that proverbial hand in 2012 by founding a radio show, Vox Populi. The show is a weekly discussion of politics and current events that Astin hosts and sees as a refuge…
Type: News
National Press Club Mourns Loss of Ben Bradlee
The National Press Club mourns the loss of Ben Bradlee, who leaves a legacy of unparalleled journalism achievements as editor of The Washington Post. He will be remembered as a leader, a legend in journalism and among the greatest newspaper editors of all time. Our profession has lost an advocate who raised the standards of journalism throughout his career and who will be particularly remembered for all that he and The Washington Post achieved on every major story of his tenure as editor including Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. His death sadly came a day after The National Press Club…
Type: News
Woodward and Bernstein say Nixon administration corruption far deeper than Watergate
The corruption of the Nixon administration was far deeper than the Watergate scandal, reporting legends Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein told host Marvin Kalb Monday night. “You listen to the tapes, and the hate and the rage and the using the power of the presidency to settle scores goes on endlessly,” said Woodward, referring to the secret presidential tapes that he and Bernstein have listened to over the years. Marking the 40th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation, Woodward and Bernstein talked with Marvin Kalb on an edition of “The Kalb Report” to try to understand what motivated Nixon’s…
Type: News
Priest barred by Vatican sees change in Catholic Church through voices of lay people
On the eve of an 18-city tour of the United States, Tony Flannery, an Irish priest barred from priestly ministry by the Vatican in 2012, told an Oct. 21 National Press Club Newsmaker audience that change in the Catholic Church would occur through the voices of lay people. “I be an enormous believer in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit working through the voice of the ordinary people,” he said. He favors wider conversations on such subjects as homosexuality, contraception, the ordination of women and second relationships but not doctrinal changes announced from above, which he feels could…
Type: News
Olympic committee president calls preventing sexual abuse most important role
Scott Blackmun, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), told a National Press Club Luncheon Oct. 21 that one of the USOC's most important roles now is to combat sexual abuse among athletes and create a safe and healthy setting for sports. "There is no agency or commission today that is responsible for the safety and well-being of young athletes," he said. Blackmun, who joined USOC in 1999, said, "perhaps most importantly, we need to have a dialogue about the role we each have to play in creating a healthy setting for sport." The USOC is establishing a National Center for Safe Sport…
Type: News
Perez sidesteps rumors he might be Attorney General, urges 'shared prosperity'
Amid speculation that he might replace departing Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez dodged questions on the subject at a National Press Club luncheon Oct. 20. "My singular focus is on the job of being at the Department of Labor," he told a laughing room when asked about the most pressing issues at the Department of Justice. Perez hailed Holder's achievements, saying that he "stood up for voting rights" and "commonsense criminal justice reform," but also faced backlash. "I don't believe the enduring voting issue 50 years later is in-person voter fraud," he…
Type: News
Voter ID laws a matter of debate as experts argue their case at NPC Newsmaker
Voter identification laws' effects on turnout, and whether these laws disenfranchise voters, were the focus of a spirited debate among two election experts at a National Press Club Newsmakers news conference on Thursday, Oct. 16. Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said voter ID laws discriminate by disenfranchising voters. At the opposite end, Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, argued that voter ID laws are common sense solutions that prevent fraud without suppressing voter turnout.…
Type: News
Kennedy Center's Rutter promises push against Washington's conservative tastes
Deborah Rutter, the new president of the Kennedy Center, told a National Press Club luncheon Wednesday that she will try to push Washington and the Center into new areas of interest and service. "I'm told Washington is very conservative in their tastes," Rutter said in one of her first public appearances since becoming president in September. "I'm going to push you on that.” Rutter did not lay out specific plans for the Kennedy Center, but in her prepared remarks entitled "Storytelling," she told of two incidents in her own experience that perhaps gave clues to her approach as an arts…
Type: News