In 1971 NPR began broadcasting a wide range of programming to radio listeners. Their mandate was to "produce and distribute news, cultural and information programming for radio in a noncommercial format." Their audience exceeds 17 million listeners, at 550 member stations, where programming includes a wide spectrum for "thinking people."
THE BEST OF NPR: A Life In The Arts includes interviews with nine accomplished artists: Dame Margot Fonteyn, Don Walser, Lynn Redgrave, Bruce Feiler, Ry Cooder, Jeremy Brett, Ethel Merm