A 20-year-old listener named Lindsay Tackett delivers a bombshell account of his half-hour phone conversation with Rosenthal, in which the reporter allegedly called astronaut Edgar Mitchell a nutcase, dismissed all of Hoagland's work as worthless, and admitted he printed only the most inflammatory correspondence. Tackett describes AP colleagues laughing in the background at the mention of decorated astronauts. Hoagland draws on his own experience inside CBS News to illustrate how producers and reporters routinely manage public perception rather than pursue truth.
The episode evolves into a searing examination of journalistic integrity in America, with Art reading historical quotes from former New York Times chief John Swinton about the press being tools of wealthy interests. Listeners are urged to fax Rosenthal directly, not with vitriol, but with demands for fair reporting.
Key Moments
Apollo 11 wasn't allowed to be called 'epic': Hoagland recalls a Sunday meeting in CBS exec producer Bob Wessler's office before Apollo 11: when someone proposed calling the 42-hour broadcast 'The Epic Journey of Apollo 11,' the Tokyo bureau chief objected - 'how do we know it's an epic journey?' - illustrating how producers managed reality at the network.
Hoagland: Heaven's Gate as noise to bury Hale-Bopp questions: Hoagland reframes the Heaven's Gate link: he argues that if someone wanted to submerge legitimate questions about Hale-Bopp under noise and distraction, they could not have done a better job - and Rosenthal's AP piece is part of the same pattern.
NASA-supplied anonymous faxes - Journalism 101 violated: Hoagland zeroes in on the specific journalistic failure: NASA provided faxes 'after deleting the identity of the senders,' and Rosenthal published them without checking authenticity. Fax paper, headers, and printers are all generic - NASA could have fabricated them.
Rosenthal refused to talk to Tom Van Flandern: Hoagland describes his half-hour call with Rosenthal: Rosenthal said he wasn't competent to discuss the science, refused Hoagland's offer to put him in touch with astronomer Tom Van Flandern, and was 'only interested in the faxes' - then claimed he had to rush off to his wedding.