Ann Curry On Journalism  Her PBS Series And Working On The 'Today' Show : NPR
Ann Curry
Ann Curry On Journalism   Her  PBS Series And Working On The 'Today' Show
Journalist Ann Curry's parents met in Japan after World War II.  Her  American father was stationed there  and  her  mother was Japanese. But when  her  father asked the military for permission to marry  the military refused — at the time  servicemen weren't allowed to marry Japanese women.
IT'S BEEN A MINUTE WITH SAM SANDERS Journalist Ann Curry On Dramatic Reunions  #MeToo  and 'Today' Journalist Ann Curry On Dramatic Reunions  #MeToo  and 'Today' Listen · 34:18 34:18
Her father was quickly reassigned  and two years went by before  Curry 's parents reunited. Even then things weren't easy — her mother contracted tuberculosis  her grandmother disapproved. But the pair managed to defeat the odds and start a family in the U.S.
Now   Curry  has a PBS series in which  she  highlights reunions like that of  her  parents. We'll Meet Again looks at people who have had brief  meaningful first encounters but have lost touch over the years. It tells the story of a woman who was rescued by a helicopter pilot after a volcanic eruption  the story of a man who was comforted by a stranger after the Sept. 11 attacks  and more.
 Curry  has worked in journalism for 40 years  and  she  spent 15 of those years working for NBC's Today show. In 2012   she  was forced out of  her  co-anchor post opposite Matt Lauer after ratings began to decline. Executives reportedly felt  Curry  and Lauer didn't have chemistry. Lauer was fired from Today in November 2017 over allegations of sexual misconduct.
 Curry  tells NPR's It's Been a Minute that  she  and others faced "verbal sexual harassment" on Today. But  she  has pushed past that difficult time and says  she 's now pursuing stories that matter to  her  — stories  she  feels aren't being covered enough in today's news climate.
It started actually with my co-executive producer  a woman named Justine Kershaw  who as a young woman had fallen off a mountain.  She  had been hiking  and  she  was in Europe.  She  was a dancer. And  she  ripped  you know  so much of  herself  up.  She  was really hurt by this fall. And there were a couple of men who were  I believe they were goat herders  and they sort of happened by and they rescued  her . They carried  her  down the mountain. They made sure  she  got to care.
And then years later  after  she  had no longer been dancing and  she  now was a wife and  she  had children   she  decided that  she  wanted to go back to this mountain. It was something kind of meaningful to  her  about it. So  she  went back to the mountain and  she  ran into  not expecting to  the goat herders. And what really stunned  her  was their reaction. They started sobbing and really were just so glad to see  her  and so glad to see how well  she  was doing because they never heard what happened after  she  had left on that emergency exit  you know  to a hospital to patch  her  back up.
So this sort of had been a part of  her   realizing that there was this need for people to connect in these kinds of moments  and not just the person who was hurt  but the person on the other side. And so fast-forward many  many years  this thing had been percolating.  She  had this kind of  well  rough idea about what if we did something like that. And it kind of evolved to what it is today.
[TGT][TGT]  PBS Series And Working On The 'Today' Show
Journalist Ann Curry's parents met in Japan after World War II.  [TGT]  American father was stationed there  and  her  mother was Japanese. But when  her  father asked the military for permission to marry  the military refused — at the time  servicemen weren't allowed to marry Japanese women.
IT'S BEEN A MINUTE WITH SAM SANDERS Journalist [TGT] On Dramatic Reunions  #MeToo  and 'Today' Journalist [TGT] On Dramatic Reunions  #MeToo  and 'Today' Listen · 34:18 34:18
Her father was quickly reassigned  and two years went by before  Curry 's parents reunited. Even then things weren't easy — her mother contracted tuberculosis  her grandmother disapproved. But the pair managed to defeat the odds and start a family in the U.S.
Now   Curry  has a PBS series in which  she  highlights reunions like that of  her  parents. We'll Meet Again looks at people who have had brief  meaningful first encounters but have lost touch over the years. It tells the story of a woman who was rescued by a helicopter pilot after a volcanic eruption  the story of a man who was comforted by a stranger after the Sept. 11 attacks  and more.
 Curry  has worked in journalism for 40 years  and  she  spent 15 of those years working for NBC's Today show. In 2012   she  was forced out of  her  co-anchor post opposite Matt Lauer after ratings began to decline. Executives reportedly felt  Curry  and Lauer didn't have chemistry. Lauer was fired from Today in November 2017 over allegations of sexual misconduct.
 Curry  tells NPR's It's Been a Minute that  she  and others faced "verbal sexual harassment" on Today. But  she  has pushed past that difficult time and says  she 's now pursuing stories that matter to  her  — stories  she  feels aren't being covered enough in today's news climate.
It started actually with my co-executive producer  a woman named Justine Kershaw  who as a young woman had fallen off a mountain.  She  had been hiking  and  she  was in Europe.  She  was a dancer. And  she  ripped  you know  so much of  herself  up.  She  was really hurt by this fall. And there were a couple of men who were  I believe they were goat herders  and they sort of happened by and they rescued  her . They carried  her  down the mountain. They made sure  she  got to care.
And then years later  after  she  had no longer been dancing and  she  now was a wife and  she  had children   she  decided that  she  wanted to go back to this mountain. It was something kind of meaningful to  her  about it. So  she  went back to the mountain and  she  ran into  not expecting to  the goat herders. And what really stunned  her  was their reaction. They started sobbing and really were just so glad to see  her  and so glad to see how well  she  was doing because they never heard what happened after  she  had left on that emergency exit  you know  to a hospital to patch  her  back up.
So this sort of had been a part of  her   realizing that there was this need for people to connect in these kinds of moments  and not just the person who was hurt  but the person on the other side. And so fast-forward many  many years  this thing had been percolating.  She  had this kind of  well  rough idea about what if we did something like that. And it kind of evolved to what it is today.