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From Gemini to the Genome: John Noble Wilford's Career in Science Reporting

Nate Sanders

If you look at the front page of the New York Times from July 21, 1969, the first thing that jumps out at you is the banner headline, “MEN WALK ON MOON.” But something that might escape all but the eagle-eyed among us is the byline, the name of the man who wrote that historic story.

His name is John Noble Wilford, and the 1955 University of Tennessee graduate was the man the paper of record tapped to document man’s greatest adventure. Wilford spent decades covering science for the Times. On Wednesday, May 7, Wilford joined WUOT All Things Considered anchor Brandon Hollingsworth to talk about what it was like to cover science during the space age, what he's up to now, and how he feels about the quality of science journalism today.