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Peter O'Dowd's Cross-Country Road Trip

Published August 4, 2014 at 12:40 PM CDT

On July 19, Peter O’Dowd left his job as news director of KJZZ in Phoenix, Arizona, packed up his things into a two-door Honda Accord and embarked on a six-day journey across the U.S. to start his job as assistant managing editor of Here & Now.

He joins hosts Jeremy Hobson and Robin Young to discuss some of the people he met along the way, during the 3,000-mile trip.

Guest

  • Peter O’Dowd, assistant managing editor at Here & Now. He tweets @odowdpeter.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bri Scheideger outside her computer repair shop in Shamrock, Texas, where she retired with her husband. “We like the people,” she says of the oil and gas town in the Texas panhandle. “We like the hospitality. We like the idea that nothing is open on Sundays.” (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
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Bri Scheideger outside her computer repair shop in Shamrock, Texas, where she retired with her husband. “We like the people,” she says of the oil and gas town in the Texas panhandle. “We like the hospitality. We like the idea that nothing is open on Sundays.” (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)

David Kaufman led a school of orthodox Jewish boys through the Oklahoma City National Memorial. “A lot of the United States, you could drive from city to city and a lot of it looks the same because it’s all commercialized,” he says. “You see the same hotels, the same strip malls, the same outfit stores. But then every place has its own unique character and it’s interesting to try to find it.” (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
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David Kaufman led a school of orthodox Jewish boys through the Oklahoma City National Memorial. “A lot of the United States, you could drive from city to city and a lot of it looks the same because it’s all commercialized,” he says. “You see the same hotels, the same strip malls, the same outfit stores. But then every place has its own unique character and it’s interesting to try to find it.” (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)

Jacqueline Levy, an educator in Memphis, says emotions are still raw over Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 assassination. “When people talk about it you can hear the tension in their voice and the deep-rooted hostility and bitterness,” she says. “It comes out. If you have a conversation about the racial tensions here, you will detect that yourself." (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)
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Jacqueline Levy, an educator in Memphis, says emotions are still raw over Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 assassination. “When people talk about it you can hear the tension in their voice and the deep-rooted hostility and bitterness,” she says. “It comes out. If you have a conversation about the racial tensions here, you will detect that yourself." (Peter O'Dowd/Here & Now)