ATC creator Bill Siemering and Susan Stamberg who co-anchored ATC from 1972 to 1986 reflect on the early days of All Things Considered. Siemering says he wanted that first broadcast — and the ones that would follow — to offer a different take on the news: "I wanted to hear voices that aren't heard generally on the air and to have first-person accounts of these things."
Bill Siemering works for "The Open Society Institute," a group that promotes open and free societies. It is funded by the Soros Foundation. He talks about building up radio in third world countries to serve as a tool for democracy. Siemering wrote the mission and goals statement for National Public Radio and served there as its first program director. He also served as V.P. at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia.