In December 1999, legendary Washington Post reporter Lou Cannon joined C-SPAN for a special program at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara California .. It was the thirty-ninth in a series on American presidents ... A biographer of - and authority on - Ronald Regan, Lou Cannon talked with the C-SPAN audience — and took calls — for three hours:

BRIAN LAMB: Any reaction to this whole three hours, to being up here on the ranch again. Anything that comes mind.

LOU CANNON: 3 hours is a long time. I might have said this at the beginning. But maybe you should end where you begin. Ronald Reagan had many sides to him. The side people that people saw was this performer. The performer as actor. The performer as governor. The performer as president. But he also needed time to himself. He also liked to be off stage. He also liked to be by himself. This was the place he came when he was off stage.

In December 2025, Lou Cannon passed away … For decades, he appeared on C-SPAN programs and took calls …  And his son Carl Cannon, also an accomplished journalist and author, continues to do so.

Like the latest episode of C-SPAN's podcast "Extreme Mortman."

Carl Cannon joins us to remember his father.

We hear clips of Lou Cannon talking about his books, his reporting, President Reagan – and talking about Carl Cannon.

What did Lou Cannon say about his son?

How does Carl Cannon react to hearing his father talk about him?

And what inside stories do we learn about Lou Cannon as a reporter, as an author – and as a father.

Find out in the latest episode of "Extreme Mortman."

With very special guest – Carl Cannon.

Find "Extreme Mortman" wherever you get podcasts.

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