Journalist Aaron Brown is one of the true media stars of the last decade.  As the founding host of CNN's NewsNight, Brown's first day as anchor was September 11, 2001 – an unforgettable day in the life of our nation and in television news.  His sensitivity and candor made it a debut that would define him more than anything that came after.  In his 25 years in broadcast journalism, he has been a beloved anchor in Seattle and later an anchor/reporter for ABC News shows including Nightline and World News with Peter Jennings.  Greatly in demand since leaving CNN, Brown has decided that public radio is the place where he'd like to make his next and lasting contribution. 

He's aiming to produce a program of integrity in a more "understated" environment to avoid the celebrity of being a public person.  "I always hated news anchors who thought their job was extraordinarily important.  It's not, actually – the people who are the subject of the stories are important." Veteran executive producer, Mary Beth Kirchner of Launch/Los Angeles, will collaborate with Brown to design the concept and put together the production team. KJZZ in Phoenix, one of the country's premier public radio stations, has offered to make their studios available as Brown's production base. Aaron Brown is now at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism as the John J. Rhodes Chair in Public Policy and American Institutions.

For his show,, Brown imagines a weekly talk show that's timely, whimsical, probing, and edgy.  He wants to create a program that embraces his incredible sweep of interests – from politics and sports to music and pop culture.  Brown often points to the model of a talk show like Charlie Rose – but with Aaron Brown as moderator, he jokingly says the program will feel more in the style of a Peter Falk's Columbo.  

Research and development will begin January of 2008.