This I Believe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This I Believe was a radio program hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. The show encouraged both famous and everyday people to write short essays about their guiding principles in life and read them on the air. This I Believe became a cultural phenomenon that tried to show morals and principle during the darker days of the Cold War. Recently the show has been revived by Dan Gediman and Jay Allison on National Public Radio (NPR).
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[edit] History of the show
[edit] The original series
Edward R. Murrow said that contributors to This I Believe "... need have nothing more in common than integrity, a real honesty." During the show's peak on American commercial radio it was drawing a daily listenership of millions and in 1952 a book spawned by the show was outsold only by the Bible. The book, also called This I Believe, was edited by Edward P. Morgan and it included 100 short personal essays. A sequel, called This I Believe 2 was published in the U.S. in 1954. A British book containing essays from 50 UK writers and 50 U.S. writers, was published in 1953. An Egyptian This I Believe book was published in Arabic in 1954, it featured 50 Arab writers and 50 U.S. writers.
Some notable contributors to This I Believe were Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein (whose essay was rediscovered after being lost), Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller and Harry Truman.
[edit] The new series
This I Believe is a weekly radio series that began airing April 2005 in the United States on National Public Radio. It is independently produced by Dan Gediman and Jay Allison for the non-profit organization This I Believe, Inc. The series invites individuals to write short essays about the core beliefs that guide their daily life. NPR airs these personal statements each Monday on their newsmagazine programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered. They are also archived on the web at http://thisibelieve.org.
Included among the contributors to the new series are Colin Powell, Isabel Allende, Bill Gates, Gloria Steinem, Newt Gingrich, and Penn Jillette, along with submissions from the general public.
[edit] Book
In 2006, the book This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women was published. It collects sixty essays from the NPR series, plus twenty essays from Murrow's original radio series. (Henry Holt and Co., ISBN 0805080872)
