Playlist John Callaway
John Callaway
From the Archive: James Baldwin in Conversation with John Callaway
Daniel HautzingerWatch James Baldwin share his ever-incisive observations late in his life on Chicago Tonight in 1985. "When Americans say progress, they really mean how quickly, and to what extent, and how profoundly, a black person becomes white," Baldwin says.
From the Archive: Mister Rogers
Daniel HautzingerIn 1985, Mister Rogers appeared on Chicago Tonight to discuss 30 years on television and offer some wisdom in his characteristic thoughtful manner.
From the Archive: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Widow Coretta Scott King
Daniel HautzingerOn Martin Luther King Jr. Day, listen to the woman who helped make the civil rights leader's birthday a federal holiday, as Coretta Scott King discusses her husband's sense of humor and legacy, as well as the structural problems undergirding racism.
From the Archive: An Interview with Oprah at the Beginning of Her Fame
Daniel HautzingerSunday night at the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey gave a galvanizing acceptance speech after being granted a lifetime achievement award. See what she was like just as her career was taking off with a morning talk show, in a 1984 interview on WTTW.
From the Archive: The Chicago River
Daniel HautzingerThe upcoming The Chicago River Tour with Geoffrey Baer explores the river today. But what was the waterway like thirty years ago, back when the city center was only just beginning to be revitalized? Watch a tour from a 1986 episode of Chicago Tonight.
From the Archive: General William Westmoreland
Daniel HautzingerAs Ken Burns's The Vietnam War approaches, watch excerpts from two 1976 WTTW interviews with General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968. The war "came about as the result of a series of very serious political blunders," he says.
From the Archive: Riverview Park
Daniel HautzingerRiverview Park delighted Chicagoans for 64 summers, from 1904-1967. A massive parachute tower, beloved roller coasters, spooky fun houses, the world's largest carousel: relive them all in this Chicago Story about the beloved amusement park that used to stand at Belmont and Western.
From the Archive: An Episcopal Priest On Coming Out
Daniel HautzingerAs the Chicago Pride Parade approaches, look back at a conversation with Malcolm Boyd, one of the first American clergymen to come out of the closet. "The majority loses its rights the moment it doesn't recognize the rights of minorities," he says.
Magic by the Lake: The Edgewater Beach Hotel
Daniel HautzingerThe Edgewater Beach Hotel played host to weddings, big bands, scandals, and celebrities like Nat King Cole and Bette Davis during its heyday. Experience some of the "Magic by the Lake" in this episode of Chicago Stories.
From the Archive: John F. Kennedy
Daniel HautzingerToday is John F. Kennedy's centenary. 34 years ago, WTTW's John Callaway hosted a discussion on the legacy of the 35th president of the United States on the twentieth anniversary of his assassination.
A Break in the Clouds: Chicago's 1933 World's Fair
Daniel Hautzinger84 years ago today, in the midst of the Great Depression, Chicago opened an extravagant World's Fair. The exposition celebrated "A Century of Progress" in the city and highlighted technological innovations such as the twelve-sided House of Tomorrow, which featured an electric dishwasher and air conditioning, and a Sky Ride that ferried visitors over the entire fair.
From the Archive: Julia Child
Daniel HautzingerIn a 1978 interview with WTTW's John Callaway, Julia Child discusses food snobs, nutrition freaks, and children in the kitchen. "My point is to make cooking easy for people so that they can enjoy it and do it, rather than making it a kind of art for the 'we happy few,'" she says.
From the Archive: Race Car Driver Janet Guthrie
Daniel HautzingerJanet Guthrie was the first woman to qualify for and compete in the Indianapolis and Daytona 500s. In 1979, she spoke to WTTW's John Callaway about her most recent Indy race and the sexism she encountered as a racer.
From the Archive: 'New Yorker' Film Critic Pauline Kael
Daniel HautzingerHear the influential critic speak about writing a review and the animosity towards a woman writing criticism in this interview with WTTW's John Callaway in 1980.
From the Archive: 'Playboy' Executive Christie Hefner
Daniel HautzingerLast month, Playboy brought back nude pictorials after a year without them. Hear part of the debate over the magazine's portrayal of women as it stood back in 1978, in an archival interview with Christie Hefner, then the VP of the company.
