Neal Conan


Neal Conan is an American radio journalist, producer, editor, and correspondent. He worked for National Public Radio for over 36 years and was the senior host of its talk show Talk of the Nation. Conan hosted Talk of the Nation from 2001 to June 27, 2013, when the program was discontinued. NPR announced that Conan would depart the network.

Early life and education

Conan was born in Beirut, Lebanon.

Career

During the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi Republican Guard detained Conan for a week. He and Chris Hedges of The New York Times were reporting on a Shia rebellion centered in Basra, Iraq.
On March 29, 2013, NPR announced that it was ending the 12-year run of Talk of the Nation, stating that Conan would "step away from the rigors of daily journalism." On February 12, 2014, an interview aired on KUAZ 89.1, Tucson, Arizona's NPR affiliate, where Conan explained that ending Talk of the Nation was not a decision he was involved in or agreed with, citing its status as one of NPR's most popular shows.
On June 8, 2014, Conan joined Hawaii Public Radio as a news analyst.
In January 2017, Conan launched a new radio show and podcast, Truth, Politics, and Power, focused on the Trump administration. Each week, Conan interviews experts in depth about a different issue arising from the 2016 election and the President's administration. The radio show is distributed by PRX.

Personal life

Conan is domestically partnered with American travel writer, poet, and essayist, Gretel Ehrlich. Conan was married to Liane Hansen, former host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. They have a son and a daughter. Hansen briefly co-hosted Talk of the Nation with Conan. Hansen revealed in April 2011 that she and Conan were divorcing.
He resides in Hāwī on Hawaii Island, where he farms macadamia nuts.
Neal Conan is a friend of comics writer Chris Claremont. As a result, he has been featured sporadically in Claremont scripted comic books at both Marvel and DC Comics as a sympathetic journalist over the years. Conan is featured as a minor character in the 1988 Marvel Comics X-Men storyline The Fall of the Mutants,

Awards

During his time at All Things Considered, it won many awards as well, including the Washington Journalism Review's Best in the Business Award.