Columnist Tony Norman & the "revolution in attitudes" fueling social change (S03EP02)

We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments

For the past 24 years, renowned Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist and book review editor Tony Norman has written about the most pressing issues of the day, proving to be an important and eloquent voice of truth.

Tony began his journalism career covering pop culture, eventually serving as the Post-Gazette’s Pop Music and Culture Editor. He is a former editorial board member at the Post-Gazette, and is the current vice president of the board of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

He has modestly described himself as “a distracted former political science major,” but he is so much more than that.

Tony shares stories of his early days as a pop culture writer in the ‘90s, including the David Bowie/Nine Inch Nails show that changed his career; his reception as the Post-Gazette’s first Black columnist; and the column he wrote that most moved him – and cemented his decision to “always be on the side of the underdogs.”

The era we are living in “feels different than any other I’ve lived through, like positive change is possible,” Tony tells host Grant Oliphant. “We are seeing a revolution in attitudes.”

He is writer in a time when there is no shortage of things to write about, and his words are trying to help fuel the revolution toward justice.

“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant, and produced by the Endowments and Treehouse Media. Theme & incidental music by Josh Slifkin. Guest image by Kurt Weber/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Guest inquiries can be made to Scott Roller at [e-mail].