Richard Paul

Contributor

Richard Paul is an independent radio producer and author based in Washington, DC. He has created award-winning audio stories and documentaries, as well as the book, We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program.

Richard started his career on Capitol Hill, as National Affairs Press Secretary for Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Press Secretary for the Senate Subcommittee on Children, Families, Drugs And Alcohol. At night, he wrote and performed satirical political songs as a member of The Capitol Steps.He jumped into radio at WAMU-FM in Washington, DC, working in the newsroom and producing The Diane Rehm Show and other programs over 14 years. He now runs rlpaulproductions, LLC.Richard has won numerous awards for his audio stories, podcasts and documentaries. He is a contributor to PRI's Studio 360, a weekly program on pop culture, design and creativity. His recent book, We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program, chronicles how the space race and the civil rights movement came together to help reshape the American South.

How Shakespeare ended up in the park

May 22, 2019Arts

Shakespeare outside in the summer seems as natural as beaches or baseball. But first it had to overcome fears that it was demonic.

The Forgotten History of Conservative Folk Music

March 24, 2018Arts, Culture & Media

Conservator Ariel O’Connor uses X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to determine what metal alloy was used to construct the port engine of the Enterprise model

Boldly going where no TV prop has gone before

January 17, 2018Arts

Why the moons of Uranus are named after characters in Shakespeare

December 23, 2016Books

Singing makes use of our vocal folds, which are barely as big as a penny.

Here’s the science behind singing

September 23, 2016Health

The Smithsonian gives the USS Enterprise an honored place in the Air and Space Museum

April 12, 2016Arts

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is full of relics from the age of flight. But it’s also home to items from the future — props from the original Star Trek TV show.

Classical music for bros: The origins of the NFL’s theme music

October 4, 2015Music

Fall is in the air, which means football is on the airwaves. And the games come with a distinct soundtrack, too.

Two psychologists say they’ve identified a long-lost (and misattributed) work of Shakespeare’s

June 29, 2015Culture

How science and a computer algorithm identified a play that may have been written by William Shakespeare, but has long been attributed to Lewis Theobald.

A selection of gospel records and album covers from the 1960s and '70s. Many gospel artists of this era used the B-sides of their 45s for civil rights anthems.

How the forgotten music of the civil rights movement was hiding in plain sight

April 11, 2015Music

In the ‘60s, black gospel musicians put their politicized music on the B-sides of their singles, in part because they feared political retribution. Many of the songs faded into obscurity, but one professor has made it his life’s mission to preserve that music before it’s lost to history.

How JFK made NASA his secret weapon in the fight for civil rights in America

March 1, 2015Justice

NASA’s black engineers, mathematicians and technicians didn’t just help American win the space race, they also played a key role in reshaping the American South.