In Defense of Nina Totenberg: Ari Shapiro
You know you're a celebrity when everyone has an opinion about you. And by that standard, Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court for NPR, is definitely a celebrity. Ever since we first started writing about Ms. Nina, we've received tons of messages and stories about her.
We feel like we're running confirmation hearings for La Totenberg -- or maybe hearings to decide whether she should be reappointed dean of the SCOTUS press corps. Witnesses have been coming forward with alternating positive and negative accounts.
Since our last post was decidedly anti-Nina -- excerpts from the memoir of John Hockenberry, a former NPR colleague of hers -- it's time for something positive. This message comes from one of Nina Totenberg's current colleagues, Ari Shapiro:
I interned for Nina seven years ago, and I’ve been her colleague at NPR ever since. I have to disagree with the assertion that she’ll “ruin the career of anyone who crosses her.” I think Tom Goldstein and Jan Crawford Greenburg got it exactly right. Nina has been unfailingly kind, generous, and helpful to me. Because I cover the Justice Department and she covers SCOTUS, we work together all the time. My cubicle is just outside of hers (yes, she has a cubicle – no office, no couch), so I see her nearly every day. She has been an extraordinary mentor and colleague, and she is always supportive. Having seen seven years’ worth of her interns come and go, I know that most of them feel the same way.I do agree with you on one point, though. Nina is utterly fabulous. I’ve never met anyone like her, and I mean that in the best possible way.
We thank Mr. Shapiro for these thoughts.*
So, after reading all about her, what do you think of Nina Totenberg? Take our reader poll, after the jump.
* As you know, our general rule here at ATL is anonymity for tipsters and correspondents. We identify Mr. Shapiro with his permission (because we love to crow about our contacts with prominent media types).
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Nina Totenberg (scroll down)
Comments
Does anyone really care about Nina Totenberg? Do you people really listen to NPR? I thought that was only for cab drivers since I have never heard that station except in a cab.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 10:57 AM
who cares about this woman? stop posting about her
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 10:57 AM
10:57(1) - i like you
Posted by: sincerely, 10:57(2) | July 25, 2007 10:59 AM
I grew up listening to NPR in the mornings on my way to school with my parents. Neither of them drove cabs. I credit growing up listening to NPR with stimulating my intellectual development from a very young age.
Viva La Totes!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:02 AM
I listen to NPR, I love Totenberg gossip, and I think that this stuff is great. No office, though? What the heck? What's the Totes without a casting couch!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:06 AM
Kirkland has raised clerkship bonuses to 50k
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:07 AM
10:57(2) - Thanks for the love.
Posted by: 10:57(1) | July 25, 2007 11:12 AM
Commenters filed "who cares about this woman" complaints weeks ago. I don't think Lat cares. He does his own thing.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:13 AM
it's getting a little hot in here
Posted by: 10:57(2) | July 25, 2007 11:14 AM
And I love EVERYONE!!!
Posted by: 10:57(heart) | July 25, 2007 11:15 AM
I love helmet hair!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:17 AM
We love you Ari!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:19 AM
11:07 - don't mean to hijack, but did you get that info straight from the firm? I'm a clerk returning to another big Chicago law firm with a 35K bonus, and I'd like to call to see if they'll match Kirkland (if Kirkland has in fact raised....)
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:33 AM
re: 10:57, " I thought that was only for cab drivers since I have never heard that station except in a cab."
NPR listeners are, on average, very well-educated (left-leaning, intellectually curious, etc) individuals, so I am quite surprised that you've encountered cabbies listening to NPR with any regularity. Maybe cabbies outside of New York are of a very different breed, but around here I'm more likely to listen along to 1010 WINS ("give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world") or braodcasts from Radio France Internationale (RFI) or radio in any number of languages ...
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 11:36 AM
She has a cubicle?! I think she just got knocked down two levels on the divalicious scale
Posted by: seriously? | July 25, 2007 11:43 AM
God Damn have I had an ass full of this bitch. Move on Lat, seriously.
Posted by: Blow me Joe Flohm | July 25, 2007 11:55 AM
What the hell does "intellectually curious" mean? Does it mean that NPR listeners are curious about having intellect? If so, then I agree. Seriously, it's NPR, these people aren't celebrities.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 12:24 PM
Yes, "intellectually curious" is truly a bizarre turn of phrase that I have never heard in my life and have no hope of defining for myself. Please, 12:24, if you are ever successful in your quixotic quest to discover the meaning of this elusive expression, be sure to report your results here so that this vexing question finally can be resolved.
Posted by: I Hate the Guy Who Hates Billy Merck | July 25, 2007 01:03 PM
Who. Gives. A. Shit?
MOVE ON!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 01:22 PM
How come no one mentions the word plagiarism in connection with Nina Totenberg anymore?
Does the one free bite rule apply or something?
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 01:57 PM
If she hadn't been fired for plagiarism by the National Observer (for cribbing from the WaPo without attribution), Totes would have an office by now.
Posted by: Cubicle Life | July 25, 2007 02:38 PM
Totenberg is one of the few people with her own office at the SCOTUS press room; almost everyone has a cubicle if that. Her office is next to Linda Greenhouse.
Posted by: SCOTUSJ | July 25, 2007 03:38 PM
Hmmm Ari is a male. A male serf to Ms. Nina. Why do I think if he had been a threatening female competitor he wouldn't have received the same fabulous treatment?
Having said that I must now stick up for the great cabbies in D.C. where NPR is frequently on their radios.
I bet they listen to NPR and are more informed than many money grubbing Biglaw associates. The snobbery is hilarious.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 25, 2007 07:23 PM
I agree--lots of NYC cabbies listen to NPR and BBC radio. It's because many are "highly educated" immigrants (even doctors, journalists, etc.) who got stuck driving cabs when they moved to the US.
Posted by: Cabbie informer | July 26, 2007 11:56 AM