"60 Minutes," and September 11th

On Sunday, the day following the 20th anniversary of September 11th, CBS's 60 Minutes devoted its broadcast to the subject of the Fire Department of New York City, and September 11th.  343 members of the FDNY were killed that day. 

The program--employing video, audio, and still images from September 11th, as well as retrospective interviews--was extraordinary.  Its host and narrator--and interviewer--was the very fine 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. 

Mr. Pelley's interviews for the program--of firefighters, fire officials, and surviving family members--were conducted with great sensitivity, and are deeply affecting, and gripping. 

Here is the link to the September 12th 60 Minutes program:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/september-11-fdny-world-trade-center-60-minutes-2021-09-12/

The program, for your reference, is presented in segments, via separate links; the first three are titled "60 Minutes remembers 9.11: The FDNY." 

After viewing the first segment, which will appear when accessing the above link (the segment is 14 minutes-plus in length), one must then locate the subsequent links, just beneath the video screen.  

Part 2 (it is labeled as such) can be seen within the thumbnails/links below the screen, and is nearly 16 minutes long. After Part 2 concludes, however--it is, unfortunately, a bit confusing (yet very much worth the effort)--one will then likely need to go backwards, within the gallery of links, by clicking the arrow at the left side of the links, to find Part 3 (which is just under ten minutes long). The last segment, titled "Scott Pelley on the courage of the FDNY," is a little over a minute long; one will likely, again, need to click the left arrow, after the end of Part 3, to locate this segment.  

The first three segments, one notes, appear in transcript form beneath the video screen.

September 11th

This photograph, of New York firefighters, was taken on September 11th.  It is from a special issue of Time magazine, published soon after the catastrophe.

Beneath the photo is the title "New York's Bravest," which is followed by this, about the day: "Fire fighters were still going in when the buildings collapsed.  One ducked under his truck and emerged to find everyone else in his squad dead."  

The picture was taken for Time by photographer James Nachtwey (VII Photo Agency).

Recommended Radio Host: NPR's Mary Louise Kelly

Ms. Kelly, a veteran journalist, is one of the hosts of NPR's afternoon/evening news program, All Things Considered.

She is an excellent interviewer and reporter, and her manner, on the air, is appealing. She is straightforward, thorough;  there is often, about her, an agreeable kind of reserve.

Here are two of her recent on-air conversations: 

In the first, from September 2nd, Kelly speaks with two physicians--one from Texas, one from Florida--whose hospitals have been overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients ("the vast majority" of the patients, as noted in the segment, were unvaccinated).   

https://www.npr.org/2021/09/02/1033727665/as-covid-19-inundates-hospitals-staff-is-emotionally-pulverized

The second interview, from August 31st, is with novelist Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train; Hawkins and Kelly discuss her new novel, A Slow Fire Burning.

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1033002638/paula-hawkins-interrogates-tragedy-and-trauma-in-new-thriller-a-slow-fire-burnin

In addition to Ms. Kelly, All Things Considered features hosts Audie Cornish, Ailsa Chang, and Ari Shapiro;  typically, two of the hosts appear on a given broadcast.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah--the Jewish New Year--starts this evening, at sundown.  

The holiday is the beginning of Judaism's Days of Awe, the ten-day period which culminates in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

If you are observing the High Holidays, my best wishes to you.