Faith Middleton (born 1948) is a retired public radio talk show host. She is best known as the former host of The Faith Middleton Show on Connecticut Public Radio. [1]
In addition to her radio work, Faith hosted and produced several popular television series for Connecticut Public Television; one aired nationally. She was a regular contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition, and guest hosted NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
Middleton was born in 1948 in Hartford. Her family moved numerous times over the years, due to her mother's work as a secretary and nanny to some of the nation's wealthiest families. Middleton graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1971. An open lesbian, she celebrated her relationship with Fern Berman with a commitment ceremony in 2002, [2] but the couple divorced in 2012. [3]
After working as an editor and reporter at the Willimantic Chronicle, Manchester Journal-Inquirer, and Providence Journal, Middleton became editor-in-chief of Connecticut Magazine. She then moved to Connecticut Public Radio as cohost of On The Town.
In 1982, she started her own daily talk show, The Faith Middleton Show, and was its host and executive producer. In October 2015, Middleton's daily show ended, and she downscaled to producing only a weekly food show, The Faith Middleton Food Schmooze.The Food Schmooze ended its run in November 2019. [4]
Middleton was named “Best Radio Talk Show Host” in the state by Connecticut Magazine for eleven consecutive years. In 2008, Faith Middleton was named a Hall of Fame recipient by Connecticut Magazine. In 2012, Middleton was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. [5]
Faith Middleton twice received the George Foster Peabody Award. She also received the Ohio State Award, the Mark Twain Award from the Connecticut Press Association, a Humanitarian Award from The Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut, and the Distinguished Public Service Award of The Connecticut Bar Association.
Middleton is the author of The Goodness of Ordinary People, [6] a book of true stories from her WNPR callers, demonstrating what she describes as “the uncelebrated breadth of humanity frequently present in secular life.”
Middleton described her work as “a never-ending exploration of the richness of life,” conducting interviews she hoped would enlighten as well as entertain. The subjects included culture, food, sustainability, news, politics, entertainment, poverty, community issues, architecture, work, leisure, design, science, sports, education, religion, history, medicine, humanity, and art.
For many years, she chaired the Celebration of Connecticut Farms along with co-chairs Meryl Streep, Paul Newman, Jacques Pepin, and Sam Waterston. [7] She twice co-chaired The Connecticut Audubon Society Eagle Festival with Phil Donahue. [8]
She occasionally wrote as a columnist and freelance writer. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Hartford Courant, San Jose Mercury News, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Ms. Magazine, and Connecticut Magazine.
Middleton was awarded an honorary doctorate by Charter Oak University and was an Associate Fellow at Yale University, where she taught a class called The Art of the Interview.
Car Talk refers to the work of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, that includes a website, and a podcast of reruns that is currently hosted by Apple Podcasts, NPR Podcasts, and Sticher. Car Talk was originally a radio show that ran on National Public Radio (NPR) from 1977 until October 2012, when the Magliozzi brothers retired. Tom died on November 3, 2014, aged 77, in Belmont, Massachusetts, of complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Fresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. As of 2017, the show was syndicated to 624 stations and claimed nearly 5 million listeners. The show is fed live weekdays at 12:00 noon ET. In addition, some stations carry Fresh Air Weekend, a re-programming of highlights of the week's interviews. In 2016, Fresh Air was the most-downloaded podcast on iTunes.
Christopher James Berman, nicknamed "Boomer", is an American sportscaster. He has been an anchor for SportsCenter on ESPN since 1979, joining a month after its initial launch, and hosted the network's Sunday NFL Countdown program from 1985 to 2016 and NFL Primetime from 1987 to 2005 and since 2019. He has also anchored Monday Night Countdown, U.S. Open golf, the Stanley Cup Finals, and other programming on ESPN and ABC Sports. Berman calls play-by-play of select Major League Baseball games for ESPN, which included the Home Run Derby until 2016.
Ingrid Mattson is a Canadian activist and scholar. A professor of Islamic studies, she is currently the London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. Mattson is a former president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and was described as "Perhaps the most noticed figure among American Muslim women" in a 2010 New York Times article.
Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda is a Mexican-American journalist. She is the anchor and executive producer of Latino USA on National Public Radio, a public radio show devoted to Latino issues. She is also the founder, president and CEO of Futuro Media Group, which produces the show. In 2022, Hinojosa won a Pulitzer Prize.
Susan Bysiewicz is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 109th lieutenant governor of Connecticut since 2019. She previously served as the 72nd secretary of the state of Connecticut from 1999 to 2011 and a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1993 to 1999.
WPOP is a commercial radio station in Hartford, Connecticut, broadcasting a news–talk–sports radio format. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are located on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford.
Connecticut Public Radio, commonly known as WNPR, is a network of public radio stations in the state of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and eastern Long Island, affiliated with NPR. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, which also owns Connecticut Public Television (CPTV).
Colin McEnroe is an American columnist and radio personality. He hosts The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio, writes a weekly column that runs in eight Hearst Communications, and writes a newsletter also for Hearst.
Lisa Wexler is a Connecticut Probate Judge, an attorney, an award-winning talk radio host and the creator and executive producer of The Lisa Wexler Show, which airs weekdays 10 a.m. - noon on WICC 600, a Connoisseur media station. On May 1, 2023, Law Day, Lisa was given The Liberty Bell Award by the Greater Bridgeport Bar Assn for "promoting civic engagement and respect for the law." Lisa Wexler is currently serving her fourth term as Probate Judge for the Westport/Weston Judicial District in Connecticut. In 2022, she won as a Democrat, having won the prior three elections as a Republican. She won with over 72 percent of the vote. In 2013, She ran as a Republican and won in Westport by a 58 percent to 42 percent margin. In Weston, Wexler won by 55 to 45 percent. In November 2014, Lisa Wexler was re-elected as Probate Judge for a four-year term. In November 2018, Lisa Wexler was re-elected again and is currently serving a four-year term. In 2020, Lisa Wexler changed her registration to Democrat. Probate Judge Lisa Wexler Runs for Re-Election; First Time as Democrat after 3 Republican Terms.
John Dankosky is a radio journalist and moderator, who is currently Director of News and Audio for the public radio program Science Friday. During a 25-year career at Connecticut Public Radio, he founded the national award-winning program Where We Live.
Edythe J. Gaines was an American educator. She was the first African American and first woman to serve as a school superintendent in Connecticut. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
Alika Hope is the founder and primary vocalist for the Ray of Hope Project. She was born in Oregon and received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Notre Dame. Hope also minored in dance at St. Mary's College. She went on to receive a Master of Arts in early childhood special education from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Anne Stanback is an American activist for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.
Edna Negron Rosario is an American educator who founded the first family resource center and school-based health clinic in the United States. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.
Adrianne Baughns-Wallace was a television journalist, the first African-American television anchor in New England, and a member of the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame.
Shari Cantor is a Certified Public Accountant and politician from West Hartford, Connecticut. She is the Mayor of West Hartford.
Aisha Harris is an American writer, editor, and podcaster. She was a staff writer, editor and podcast host at Slate before moving to the New York Times in 2018 as an editor. Since 2020, she has been a co-host and reporter for the NPR show Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Rachel Taylor Milton (1901–1995) was an American educator, community activist, and co-founder of the Urban League of Hartford, Connecticut. The first African American woman to graduate from Hartford Seminary, Milton was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 1994.
Eileen Shanley Kraus was an American business executive who broke the glass ceiling to be the first woman to run a major bank in Connecticut. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.