JUNE 10, 1987: The time I interviewed astronaut James A. Lovell.

What a privilege to have had even these few minutes with a real hero -- a man whose work inspired me to become a journalist in the first place. (I wasn't going to become one of the astronauts, so why not get a job that would at least give me reason to talk to some of them?)

We began with a discussion of the religious controversy sparked by the Apollo 8 mission.


Check out more of my interviews with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in iTunes, on Spotify, via your favorite podcast player, and at Chicago Public Square.

(Originally posted Oct. 21, 2012. Updated Dec. 23, 2018, to mark Apollo 8’s 50th anniversary.)

Recorded at Lovell's Centel Corp. office, outside Chicago. Raw audio, complete with malfunctioning microphones. (I'm waaay off-mic. Deal with it.) NASA photo, 1969.