A day in the life... (continued)

12:08 p.m. — Klinger and Ray have bagged two key interviews for the afternoon show: a Les Mis expert (who'll chat by phone from Paris), and a family law expert for the DNA/paternity story.

12:42 p.m. — Klinger calls out to whomever's in earshot, "Kerrey won't be available today."

Siegel gets lunch from the NPR deli, which he'll eat while re-reading background material and preparing questions for his 1:30 p.m. interview with Dr. Richard Garwin. Recently-revealed statements from Dr. Edward Teller give Garwin, not Teller, credit for key breakthroughs in the creation of the hydrogen bomb.

After interviewing family law expert Elizabeth Bartholet for about eight minutes, Wertheimer says, "I think that takes good care of us." She reads a closing I.D. -- "We reached her at her office in Boston" -- then stops and asks Bartholet, "Are you in fact in Boston?" Bartholet replies, "I'm in Cambridge," so Wertheimer re-reads the passage, substituting Cambridge. Assistant Producer Carline Watson will edit in the right version, and boil the discussion down to four minutes.

1:00 p.m. — At a computer in an editing booth, Editorial Assistant Rekha Murthy listens to the digital recording of Siegel’s Twohey interview. She starts with 16 minutes, and cuts it down to a little less than six.

Editorial Assistant Rekha Murthy computer-edits the digital sound file of a Siegel interview.

1:10 p.m. — Turpin puts producer assignments on the board, so that each producer knows which interview or feature he or she is responsible for. Washington Editor Ron Elving tells Turpin that Congressional Correspondent Steve Inskeep has a piece on New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli that really should air tonight, along with the report on the state's acting governor that Turpin plans to use in the show's first half hour. Turpin tells him there's no room.

Turpin updates the whiteboard.

1:20 p.m. — Northeast Bureau Chief DeLeon tells Turpin that Sonn's New Jersey governor piece can't be ready for the show's first hour. Turpin rearranges the whiteboard, puts the Sonn piece partway through the second hour and adds Inskeep's Torricelli piece as well. To get the time, he'll postpone until tomorrow a piece he liked for the "texture" it gave the show: a David Kestenbaum report on manned versus unmanned space exploration.

1:30 p.m. — Siegel interviews Garwin regarding the paternity of the H-bomb.

An editor and producer in the control room take notes as Siegel, in the adjacent studio, interviews a French commentator about an unauthorized sequel to Les Miserables.

2:00 p.m. — Siegel interviews French journalist Philip Chatenay, about the outcry in French literary circles over the Les Miserables sequel. When Chatennay contends that the French may scorn the sequel as low-brow but nonetheless make it a bestseller, Siegel quips into the intercom that only the control room can hear: "Jerry Lewis all over again." The crew cracks up. Lisa Harmon takes Siegel's seven minutes of tape and edits it to three. With this taping complete, all of the interviews for today's show have been recorded, unusually early in the day.

Two hours before air time, the board's story lineup looks like this, with all time allotted except the show's final three minutes:

          1-A: Totenberg from the Supreme Court on tobacco ads, Wertheimer's interview on the Massachusetts DNA/paternity case, Schorr's commentary on Bush's first 100 days.

          1-B: Correspondent Margot Adler's report on Hale House, Siegel's interview on the the Les Miserables sequel.

          1-C & 1-D: the Changing Face of America report on the working poor, with Siegel's companion interview on welfare reform.

         2-A: White House Correspondent Don Gonyea on Bush administration Taiwan policy, Congressional Correspondent David Welna on the Bush budget battle, Religion Correspondent Duncan Moon on a conference on faith-based initiatives.

         2-B: Inskeep on Torricelli, Sonn on the acting New Jersey governor (Producer Sara Sarasohn observes with amusement, "We have Sonn and Moon in the same hour!").

         2-C: Wertheimer's interview on Japan's new prime minister, Tokyo Correspondent Eric Weiner on the rise of Japanese nationalism.

         2-D: Siegel's interview with Garwin.

Kelly and Turpin at the ATC nerve center known as the "horseshoe."

2:45 p.m. — With an hour and a quarter to go before the show airs, Turpin only has two finished pieces -- the main Changing Face of America piece, and Weiner's examination of Japanese nationalism.

2:57 p.m. — In his office, beneath a huge likeness of radio pioneer Edward R. Murrow, Siegel writes an introduction for the Garwin interview. Given how tightly the interview had to be edited to fit into today's show, "I think it may be cut a little bit too short for comprehension," he says. To make the introduction as brief as possible yet clear, he types and retypes phrases, speaking them aloud.

3:15 p.m. — "I can't spell this man's name for beans," says Wertheimer, as she writes an introduction for her interview on Japan's new prime minister. But she has practiced until she can pronounce Junichiro Koizumi effortlessly.

Contents Copyright 2001, National Public Radio