NPC Update-1 Podcast

The 27th annual NPC photo exhibit on display in the Club's lobby through Sept. 30 is a celebration of visual storytelling. In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast/Podcast Team co-chair Adam Konowe speaks with participant and veteran photographer Ken Hawkins about his five featured photos, as well as his experiences dating back to Jimmy Carter's rise from obscurity to the presidency. The exhibit's theme is “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” inspired by the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. About three-quarters of the images are thematic, showing Americans and others exercising these inalienable rights, as well as expressing their personal values of family, community, country and faith.

Podcaster Kris Goldsmith feels legacy media does not adequately cover what he considers threats from far-right extremists. In this edition of Update-1, Goldsmith talks about how he's using his podcast to fight back, how people are reacting to it and its impact on his life.

Artificial Intelligence is in the news as CEOs like Sam Altman of OpenAI meet with legislators and White House advisors. The focus is on voluntary cybersecurity tests of advanced AI models and the possibility of government regulation. Behind it all is a political argument – U.S. competition with China.

In the latest Update-1 podcast, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former senior advisor to the secretary of the Navy in the Biden Administration and the first female lieutenant governor of Maryland shares her views on the politics behind the AI race with Susan Baumel, a member of the Broadcast Podcast team.

Kennedy Townsend also discusses the midterms and the ongoing controversy over the Kennedy Center, a memorial to her uncle, the late President John F. Kennedy.

With the shutdown of CBS News Radio in May after 99 years of broadcasting being the latest in a seemingly endless string of job cuts in the news industry, what is the future of the media landscape? In this edition of Update-1, Broadcast Podcast team member Gemma Puglisi talks with Michael Harrison, the founder and editor of TALKERS Magazine, known as "the Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media." Harrison explains why he wasn’t surprised when CBS pulled the plug on its radio network. He also discusses the growth of podcasting and the factors he thinks will determine the media in the years ahead.

Mark Schoeff says he now understands the many responsibilities that go with being president of the National Press Club. Schoeff was elected in December as the club's 119th president. In the latest edition of Update-1, he talks with Broadcast Podcast team co-chair Adam Konowe about his first months in the position and his goals and objectives for the rest of the year. They also discuss changes that have been implemented at the club, and how he intends for it to remain as the place where news happens.

A broadcast era comes to an end this Friday. CBS News Radio will shut down following the last national newscast Friday night, after nearly 100 years of broadcasting. In the latest Update-1 podcast, former CBS Radio anchor and reporter Sam Litzinger, a press club member, talks with Broadcast Podcast team co-chair Mike Hempen about his nearly 20 years at the network, its history and tradition. Sam discusses the legendary Edward R. Murrow and the Murrow Boys and offers thoughts on the future of radio news.

The Space Symposium, hosted annually by the non-profit Space Foundation, features senior leadership from commercial and military space organizations, creating a concentration of newsmakers and mediagenic topics every April at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. It also attracts more than 100 journalists from around the world. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast co-chair Adam Konowe speaks with is Torsten Kriening, CEO and publisher of SpaceWatch.Global, a Berlin-based digital media outlet. Recorded on the sidelines of the Foundation's annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Kriening explains why his team made the transatlantic trip to Space Symposium and provides a European perspective on the week's news flow.

From weather alerts to precision agriculture, not to mention GPS guidance and internet connectivity, the benefits of space utilization have become ubiquitous around the world. Yet the industry behind these and other life-enhancing technologies is often less well understood. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast co-chair Adam Konowe speaks with Rich Cooper, vice president of strategic communication for the non-profit Space Foundation. Recorded on the sidelines of the Foundation's annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Cooper addresses the organization's mission and flagship event, as well as the importance of journalists and communicators in the space ecosystem.

Press freedom in the United States faces unprecedented challenges, ranging from government pressure to financial stresses. In the latest edition of Update-1, Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Tom Young speaks with two veteran journalists and free press advocates -- former NPC President Myron Belkind and Katherine Jacobsen, with the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization that provides free safety training and other resources for reporters facing threats and intimidation. They offer their views on the state of press freedom in the U.S. in 2026.

Fighting disinformation is nothing less than a civic duty, according to JJ Green, the Edward R. Murrow Award-winning national security correspondent for WTOP Radio. In this edition of Update-1, NPC Broadcast/Podcast co-chair Adam Konowe talks with Green about his new book, “The Noise War: How to Fight Disinformation and Find Truth When Everything is Lying to You” (available on Amazon). The conversation includes insight on what attracted Green to the beat, why he's stayed on it for decades, and how the book can serve as a "field manual" for those who seek to prioritize truth in an era where disinformation has been weaponized domestically and internationally.