Robert Siegel (architect)
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Robert Charles Siegel (born June 26, 1947) is an American retired radio journalist. He was one of the co-hosts of the
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
evening news broadcast ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'' from 1987 until his retirement in January 2018.


Early life, family and education

Siegel was born June 26, 1947, in New York City, to parents Joseph and Edith Siegel (''née'' Joffe). His father was a commercial education teacher, and his mother a secretary at
Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...
. He grew up at Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village. His maternal grandfather claimed to descend from rabbinical scholar
Mordechai Yoffe Mordecai ben Avraham Yoffe (or Jaffe or Joffe) ( 1530 – 7 March 1612; Hebrew: מרדכי בן אברהם יפה) was a Rabbi, Rosh yeshiva and posek. He is best known as author of ''Levush Malkhus'', a ten-volume codification of Jewish law th ...
, and Siegel has identified on-air as
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. After graduating in 1964 from Stuyvesant, Siegel studied at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, graduating from Columbia College in 1968. During this time, he was an anchor for the reporting of the 1968 Columbia demonstrations at the college radio station, WKCR-FM. He attended
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
for a year.


Career

Siegel's first professional broadcasting job was at WGLI in Babylon, New York, where he "did morning newscasts and a show that was part phone-ins, part
Top Forty In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...
, all under the pseudonym Bob Charles." After graduate school, he worked for
WRVR WRVR (104.5 FM, branded "The River 104.5") is an adult contemporary radio station broadcasting in Memphis, Tennessee. It has broadcast this format for at least 34 years as of 2021. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station's studios are located in Sout ...
in New York from 1971 to 1976. Siegel was hired as a newscaster for NPR in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, in 1976, and he has held various news and production jobs at NPR since then. In broadcasts prior to the Panama Canal Treaty debates, he was referred to as "Bob," rather than his preferred "Robert." From 1979 to 1983 he was based in London, making him the first NPR staffer to be based overseas. Upon his return to America, he became the director of the News and Information Department, and was responsible for overseeing production of both ''All Things Considered'' and ''Morning Edition'', as well as the creation of ''Weekend Edition.'' Starting in 1987, he was a host of ''All Things Considered''. He took a short break in 1992 to host ''
Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio (NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial issu ...
'', NPR's call-in talk show. In 2010, Siegel was presented with the
John Chancellor Award John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism is an annual award of $25,000 selected by a panel of journalists, for courageous and sustained reporting. Established in 1995, the award was formerly administered by the University of Pennsylvania ...
for Excellence in Journalism by the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
. Siegel won three
Silver Baton Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical co ...
s from Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University and the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. In April 2017, Siegel announced he would end his time with ''All Things Considered''. His last day on the program was January 5, 2018. Siegel has made cameo appearances in several television shows, including ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'', ''
Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...
'', ''
BoJack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black Comedy drama, comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F ...
'' and the film ''
Yesterday Was a Lie ''Yesterday Was a Lie'' is a 2008 neo-noir film written and directed by James Kerwin and starring Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson, John Newton, and Mik Scriba. In publicity materials, the film has been described as a combination of science fantas ...
''. For the weeks of June 5, 2018, and February 17, 2020, Siegel guest-hosted NPR's ''
On Point ''On Point'' is a radio show produced by WBUR-FM in Boston and syndicated by American Public Media (APM). The show addresses a wide range of issues from news, politics, arts and culture, health, technology, environmental, and business topics, t ...
''.


Personal life

In 1973, Siegel married Jane Claudia Schwartz, who works for the
United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...
. They have two daughters, Erica Anne Siegel and musician
Leah Siegel Leah Siegel is an American singer-songwriter and musician performing under the name Firehorse. Siegel wrote a song in a commercial for Topsy Foundation, which promotes early childhood development in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Th ...
.


References


External links


Robert Siegel
at NPR * * *
Silver Screen articles
at Blu-ray.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Robert 1947 births Living people 20th-century American Jews American radio journalists NPR personalities Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Stuyvesant High School alumni American broadcast news analysts American reporters and correspondents Columbia College (New York) alumni 21st-century American Jews