Mr. Rogers and the Fight for Public Media

Membership Ticker

We need
your help
this week!

We’re halfway through our Spring Membership Drive, and we’ve raised just 200 of our 1,000-donation goal. That gap is real and concerning—and so is what’s at stake. Every investigation we pursue, every story we refuse to drop, is funded by readers like you. Be the reason these stories get told.

We need your help! We’re halfway through our Spring Membership Drive, and we’ve raised just 200 of our 1,000-donation goal. That gap is real and concerning—and so is what’s at stake. Every investigation we pursue, every story we refuse to drop, is funded by readers like you. Be the reason these stories get told.

A black and white photo of Fred Rogers, wearing a sweater, button-up, and tie, with his arms crossed and resting on his neighborhood trolley.

Family Communications Inc./Getty Images

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

On the anniversary of Fred Rogers’ birthday, we take a trip to Mr. Rogers’ real-life neighborhood in this special episode that celebrates the life and work of public media’s most famous defender.

Reveal’s Michael Schiller visits WQED in Pittsburgh for a look back at how Rogers, the host of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, championed public television throughout its decades-long struggle to survive Washington politics.

Find Reveal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, or your favorite podcast app, and don’t forget to subscribe.