next, "q&a" with jack doyle. live at 7:00 a.m., your calls and comments on "washington journal." 10:30 a.m., army chief of staff general ray odierno discusses military strategy and the impact of budget cuts at the american enterprise institute. ♪ >> this week, on "q&a," jack doyle. he discusses the stories he has written and posted on contemporary pop culture. >> jack doyle, what is pophistorydig? >> it is the history of popular culture. it is a collection of stories on

popular culture. to say pop culture, it is more than that. what i'm trying to do the site is go into detail with how popular culture impacts politics and sports and other arenas. it is not just pop-culture. what we have on the site are stories about popular music, sports biographies, history of media entities. newspaper histories. there are a range of things. that's what i envisioned when i formulated the site. >> it shows "rumble riles sensors."

we will come back to that. step back. why did you do this? >> this is a second career for me. i spent 30 years working in public policy. working on environmental public policy. in 2006 and 2007, i started to think about other work. i came up with the idea -- the web was so intriguing, i thought about going into the web and starting something that could be a small business. i took some free time and money. i hired a young husband and wife team. they have an outfit called "mind

storm" they helped me build the site. they did the coding. i'm not scared of coding, i knew what a process it was. >> what kind of subjects -- what kind -- how many subjects do you have on there? >> there are eight different categories of topics. >> media, entertainment, sports, marketing. >> you can browse through those category buttons to a page of thumbnail sketches of stories that you can click on and go to. there are 170 stories on the website. >> how many have you written? >> all of them.

i am the chief cook. that is what intrigued me about the web. it is the fact that one person can do that. one person can jump into this if you are really interested. the web is a marvelous tool. it is a marvelous opportunity. i jumped in and here we are. >> this got my attention because of my age. and goes back to 1958. "rumble" riles censors. what was rumble? it was written by link wray.-- instrumental, written by a guy named link wray.

he made some adjustments with this technology to get certain sounds. what happens was, some radio stations would not play it because they believed it incited juvenile the latency. they would not play the song. the radio stations that tried to censor its made it more popular. once you do that, the kids are attracted to it. the other interesting thing about "rumble" is, the gang warfare thing, the rumble lingo was what the sensors jumped on. this is a song without lyrics. it is an instrumental. the first instrumental was

banned. >> how successful was the song? >> it made it into the top ten. >> let's hear a little bit of the song. i doubt if young people remember this. let's remember link wray and the wraymen. >> i know the beat. i said, ok. i went -- you know? my brother grabs the microphone. he took the mic and stuck it down there.

["rumble" by link wray plays] >> link wray and the wraymen. what kids -- what chance would a song like that have today? >> some of his songs were used in tarantino films. so, instrumental music -- you

can always adapt it. >> i want to ask you about the sensor part of it. was it censored by the government? >> no. these were radio stations and tv stations that decided that they did not like the association with gang warfare and the name "rumble." there were some -- if i'm not in mistaken -- if i am not mistaken, -- said something negative about it. it has link wray going to europe and having a successful career there.

he was musicmaking for many years. i try to do a balance of things on the website. it is quite dependent on the visual. if i do not get a good visual to start the story or a video -- i do not use video that much throughout the site -- i'm trying to make it a good visual experience. so, often, as i stay out and try to find -- as i scout and try to find photos, it gives me an idea for another story. the process is pretty random. i am trying to balance topical matters.

>> on the opening page is lbj. it pops up the full story. >> that was the first negative political ad in campaign history. for that reason, i thought it was his store glee significant. it was the first negative campaign ad. lbj suggested that goldwater -- the republican candidate -- would unleash nuclear weapons on the people of the world. that firm have been chosen by

jfk foiled -- that firm had been chosen by jfk prior to his assassination. >> let's run the ad. this has been seen by most people watching. we will show the goldwater ad. >> one. two. three. five. seven. six. nine. nine.

10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2 1. these are the stakes. to make a world in which all of god's children can live or to go into the darkness. we must either love each other or we must die. vote for president johnson on november 3. the stakes are too high for you to stay home. >> it only ran once but it has been seen thousands of times. >> all the news organizations ran it. it had a widespread effect than. it introduced this notion of

negative campaign ads. >> president johnson knew about this ad? >> that's a good question. i'm sure they had a preview. i do not know that for a fact. it would seem that the campaign would have to know what they were doing. >> what did they goldwater campaign do as retribution? >> they came up with their own ad with school children pledging allegiance to the flag. >> that's right. >> but, that is where the whole negativity thing started. they had a truce for the rest of that campaign. as we know, negative campaigning is the way of the world. >> sometimes you connect the video and sometimes you do not. what is your philosophy?

>> when you embed videos, the owner will shut them down and you do not have any control. you have to be careful about which videos to pick. movie trailers are pretty safe. advertising -- most advertising remains in the public domain. >> hand over your heart. ready? begin. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states. [foreign language] one nation under god

[foreign language] >> i want american kids to grow up as americans. and they will. so long as we make our intentions clear. in your heart, you know he is right. vote for barry goldwater. >> johnson swamped goldwater in the election. it is one of the great all-time landslide victories. he used a nuclear weapon by bringing up khrushchev. >> have you ever worked in politics? >> i worked in environmental policy in washington.

i did not work in campaigns, per se. >> where did you grow up? >> pennsylvania. >> where did you go to school? >> a small state college in pennsylvania. then, graduate school in pennsylvania. >> is there anything in your past that would lead you to think that you would be writing this blog? >> i call it a website. harking back to my high school days. they do these preference tests for children in high school.

my tests revealed that i had a predilection towards the persuasive arts. my career moved into writing and research. i went to school and i studied planning in graduate school. at the time, who would have imagined the web? >> you have been doing this for how long? >> we first engaged the search function in june of 2008. it has been up for five years. >> i have a bunch of stores in the oven.

a lot more to come. >> here is one from the politics section. it is about paul conrad. there is a cartoon showing president nixon caught up in a watergate spiderweb. why did you pick paul conrad? >> he was in the news. his work was very visual. that first graphic -- the watergate graphic -- was very dramatic. yet others that i used in the piece. he had others that i used in the piece. he was on nixon's enemies list. he had the visual elements that

i usually look for. i did a quick sketch of his career and incorporated some of his drawings. >> here is one from june 1972. he says he is from the phone company. >> that is very early in the watergate mess. he was one of the first. the washington post exposed watergate. conrad was quick to make the nixon association early on. >> how about rights? here is one. it says, "enemies list."

at the bottom, his own worst enemy. >> i do this under a fair use claim. i do it for public education purposes. most of the material i use, i give credit where i can. it is used in the interest of public education under fair usage. >> if you want to make you will have to come out and get me. -- if you want me, you have to come out and get me. you consider yourself a journalist? >> i do. i have written several books.

politically, i tried to stay balanced. i lean in the progressive direction. there is a lengthy piece on richard nixon and his engagement with watergate and david frost. there is a long piece about nixon trying to vindicate himself. >> what did he tell you during the 18.5 minute gap? >> his notes are the only recollection i have.

he was a good notetaker. we had other opportunities to look at his notes. he was making the notes for my presidential file. >> of course. >> you asked me what it was, my recollection was the notes. i was concerned about whether or not we were being bogged -- bugged. >> they both made a lot of money. >> the initial contract for nixon was $1 million. i tried to carve out a unique cut on these stories. in this case, i try to practice his -- the story around a giant

business built around the nixon- frost interviews. there was a lot of business that are merged around the frost- nixon debates and engagements. that was fascinating. it was a lengthy piece on that whole. -- on that whole time. >> what are your rules? >> i try to have sourcing. i have sourcing at the end of each article so that people can go beyond what i have done and go to the primary sources themselves. i try to be fair and balanced. i have learned -- i have done this website -- i have learned how to incorporate things and

which links are valuable. the rules, for me, are good solid research and not going out on a limb. >> how often do you pick up the phone and call somebody to talk to them about the piece? >> i -- most of my work is secondary sources -- most of my work is secondary sources. i am taking novel slices of things that have already been done and repackaging them. so much of what happened in our society goes by so quickly. one of the reasons that i decided to do tackle these

topics is because it passes us by daily. lots of things to. we do not always focus on what happens. i rehashed them to have a second look at what has happened. >> what is the website address? >> www.pophistorydig.com >> where did you get the title? >> i was interested in popular culture in the history of it. dig is not slang. it means an archaeological dig. we played with a logo that would have a man with a shovel. we tried to have a visual logo. we could not come to an agreement on that so we put the logo aside -- we could not come to an agreement on that. so, we put the logo aside.

>> when did you know you had something that people wanted to read? >> it is still a work in progress. what keeps me going is that if you make a search for something i have written on, it will come up within the first or second pages on the search engines. that is what has kept me going. to see that occur strikes me that i am doing something right. the stories are coming up in searches. the other thing that is encouraging to me is that schools and colleges are using me. i have google analytics. i can see who is visiting the

site and how long they are staying. i have followings in schools and colleges. professors link to the stories. >> here is one called nader. what got your attention on ralph nader? >> i met him once. on the steps of the senate office building. in the early 80s. he gave me a blurb for a book i did on the auto industry called, "taken for a ride." that is my previous life. that's when i worked on environmental policy issues. the nader story -- i felt that the nader story is a good

visual. he instigated a lotta publication -- a lots of publication. his raiders came out of issues of the day. i incorporated these books. i looked around and there had been a good picture of what nader had done in that window. they do great work. those paperbacks, incorporated in the story, are good pieces of public policy. i thought i could use the websites to help teachers and college professors bring this history -- this popular history,

this publishing history -- to light. there is some negativity about ralph nader. we have to remember that this ban changed -- he really changed investigative reporting, in a way. it was a novel idea. it really changed the culture. >> where do you find most of the artwork? >> almost all of it comes from the internet. when i do my searches, to find a particular book, like what you see there, sometimes it is hard

to find crisp and good photos. you have to use what is available. >> another subject. jfk and the ad. >> at the time, i was working for wired magazine. that was in 2000. there was a two-page spread of kennedy giving a speech. the "we will go to the moon" speech.

he made in houston. the omega watch people use that photo to tout their watch. that got my attention. how may times have you seen a former president be used to sell a product? >> it was a dramatic photo. in this case, the image was owned by the library. in that ad, there is a section that has the jfk library in grave in the ad -- engraved in the ad. >> we choose to go to the moon. we choose to go to the moon. we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they're easy, but because they are hard.

>> first and only watch on the moon. >> it was. all the astronauts used it. it became quite the watch. there, you had kennedy not making a specific endorsement, but the association is there. that is all the advertisers needs. >> where do you live? >> in maryland. >> where you do this work? >> at my desk. >> when you first started and you had your first piece, what did it cost? >> the cost was having to pay

the bills while i did the research. i had to pay out my design team who helped build the website. the cost was financing my research. i had some retirement money that i get into to finance the website. i could not do the research part time. this is a full-time job. i delved into this with the idea of making it a thoroughgoing venture. i am struggling still. >> is there any way to estimate what it would cost to get started? >> building the website is a few thousand dollars. there are lots of opportunities

online. you can build a rudimentary website easily. there are a range of options. if you are going into it for a long time and you want a site that will last, you need professional help to get it started. today, there is an enormous opportunities. >> you do a piece on edward r morrow. who was he? why did you select that program? >> he was a famous news man. in history, he is known for his confrontation with joe mccarthy, the anti-communist crusader. he and morrow had a dramatic

confrontation on the air. that was a separate show. this show, "person to person," was looking at actors and sports figures. a range. he would bring cameras into their home and sit in an easy chair with actors and sports personalities. in their homes. he would exchange views with the celebrities. >> let's watch a clip. tell us what impact it had. >> they were married last month. they are looking for a place to live. they stay up in boston. so much for the history.

let's go and meet the new lights let's go and meet the newlyweds. -- let's go and meet the newlyweds. >> have you opened all of your wedding gifts? >> we have a couple. >> would you show us around your apartment? >> certainly. >> it looks like some of the things that we do. >> it was early television and this was early celebrity tv. he did smalltalk interviews. it was a popular show in those days. endless revisions.

>> done live. >> it was fairly late in the evening. >> i have watched a lot of these interviews. these are not exactly hard-core journalism. [laughter] what did he do to his image? >> morrow is known for criticizing the frivolity of television. he gave a speech lambasting the direction of television. he said it was being used for frivolous purposes. there is a potential to use

television in a good way, as c- span has done. edward murrow would approve of c-span if you were alive today if he were alive today. he was hoping to use this as an educational medium. he had higher aspirations for its then had panned out. he wanted use it for an educational game. it did not work out the way he wanted it. >> i have some more from your website on my ipad. here are the hearings. the beatles in america. newsweek sold. you have the jackson statutes. again, as you hear some of

these, you remember why you did them. >> rupert murdoch, that story, he made a series of acquisitions in the late 1970s. he acquired new york magazine and the newer post -- and the new york post. he made a bunch of acquisitions in new york media media -- media. i thought that made an interesting story. here was an aspect of his empire being built. some interesting history there. new york magazine, at the time, had a very interesting editor. i get into these stories and i discover an avenue.

i travel down those avenues. part of the murdoch story is fascinating reading. anybody interested in journalism will like that story. >> how often have you done one of these stories and been told that you did something wrong? >> not that many. did a few e-mails that offer criticism. i remain open to critique and correction. >> is this generating any revenue? >> not much. i have bare bone advertising in the margins.

it is not bushels of money, by any means. >> how long can you keep doing it without making money? >> i have a consulting business that i continue. i am determined to keep at it because i think there is potential for the site to go bigger. i'm not not giving up, by any means, at this point. >> wall street, the movie, i'm scrolling down and showing some of the pictures. here is gordon gecko. not a blockbuster. >> if you scroll up to the top of the piece, you will see the

fortune magazine cover. a decade after the movie, fortune used the gecko character on its cover. gecko, here is an example of a guy who is imprinted in the culture. they are using it to message their cover story. it is a good visual to begin the story. it talks about the business success of the film and how it is used in business schools to teach values and ethics. >> here is an example of where you have video on the site. we are going to run the trailer.

>> from the director of "platoon." the next story is in the greatest jumble of all, wall street. >> something big is going down. >> that is not what i do. >> if you are not inside, you are outside. >> i am with you gordon. >> trade your peace of mind. for a piece of the action. >> all it takes is inside information. >> i don't care how you get it. >> you can trade everything you believe in. for everything you ever wanted.

>> why do you need to reckless company? >> michael douglas. daryl hannah. oliver stone. wall street. >> what impact do you think that movie had on the country? how much of that played in? >> again, the fact that fortune picked up on him on their magazine -- i am always interested in the business aspect. interestingly, it did not do very well when they came out. they were surprised that it did not resonate at the time. subsequently, it has become a classic film.

it describes the activity on wall street. >> i am looking at rfk in brooklyn. why? >> one of the discussions at the website is "icons and celebrities." i am intrigued with who we honor with statues. it turns out that fictional characters have their own statues in some cases. there is a jackie gleason statue from when he was starring in "the honeymooners." tv land ventured into a series of the statues and resurrected fictional characters.

mary tyler moore has one. there are others. the fonze this idea of, who gets a statue? public figures. rfk caught my attention. the photo i came across captured kennedy. she really captured kennedy in the bust that she did. the photo of the bust. my attention -- the photo of the bust got my attention. what he did for bedford stuyvesant, he became concerned

for the urban poor. his run for the white house was aborted because of the assassination. the statue and the bust became the pagan for that story -- peg for that story. >> can you tell which article is looked at the most? >> yes. i can. the hope is that you get a few hits. the most popular story is the one on "rosie the river and are

-- "rosie the riveter." it goes back to a character named rosie. there's an interesting history with rosie and subsequent images related to characters like her used in the women's movement in the 1970s. rosie, and world war ii, was a significant image in recruiting women into the workforce. that article gets into the detail of how women became involved in the workforce. the rosie the riveter image gets you into the story. there is more about how women came into the workforce. >> how long does it take to write?

>> it can can take a week or a few months. i may find a visual that i cannot get the narrative right for. i will set aside. i have a hundred stories that are in various stages of completion that i want to get up. when i need to pay the bills, i have to do consulting. that takes time. i am taken with this. this is my project. i want to make it work. >> how many hours a week? >> 70 or 80. i am adding all the time. >> what would you tell someone who says, i want to do that. what would you warn them? >> you have to be dedicated. you have to have decent ideas.

go for it. with the internet, a whole new world is out there. >> you are just a citizen. wrote some books. did some lobbying. you started this www.pophistorydig.com >> i am hoping that it will become a paying entity soon. i am hoping that i will make a living off of it. in the meantime, if it is doing public education, that is part of why i set it up. for public education. >> you have a 12 minute video at you can link to. it is hard to find people who knows who drew pearson is if

they are younger. >> elvis presley was a truck driver. he still cannot read music. his main appeal continues to be sex. he came from a poverty-stricken background. in all fairness, it is true that he began his climb to fame for television. following the violent criticism of his body movement on tv, he has become less objectionable. so, here's my production, his popularity with teenagers is due to his lack of popularity with parents. i predict that elvis presley

hysteria will diminish. >> how did drew pearson do? >> elvis went on to great economic success beyond that. the pearson piece runs 12 minutes. i selected it because i have several thoughts on it. i have all of his itinerary listed. i have a story of him making an appearance in jacksonville where

he was threatened with a restraining order. presley. levied on in those days, presley was revolutionary. he was a threat to many. after i had done those two stories, i came across the drew pearson. even though he was critical, and his accounting of presley, at the time, was accurate. >> who was drew pearson? >> he was one of the most read columnists in the country at the time. he went on to a great career. he was critical of politicians.

even, i believe, made some accusations of nixon. pearson was a famous -- >> before we lose time, here is vanity fair. here is fdr when he was governor. here is herbert hoover. why these covers? >> i became taken. the publishing in the 1930s magazine art is quite striking. i came across it randomly.

i was surprised that vanity fair had not done much with its own cover history. i started collecting these covers. i did research on each of the covers and tried to build stories. >> the june 1933 cover offered the wailing wall of gold. >> he is a mexican. i have several illustrations that are quite elaborate. including, the fdr. he was a renowned artist. that time, the 1930s, it was all illustration. that time was quite fascinating. fortune magazine had some really

wonderful illustrators. >> this is al capone and chief justice hughes. >> vanity fair called these impossible interviews. they were juxtapositions of impossible characters talking to each other. it was something that was popular. >> you even have "donate" on your website. >> i solicit donations. if people find what i am doing is valuable, i am appreciative. if you like what i am doing, please donate. no six-figure donations yet, but i am always optimistic.

i am always changing. the way i build my stories. when you do a story, you can go back and improve it. you can rearrange things. i have made revisions as i found more photos that illustrate something i was trying to say. i will add them. the fluidity is nice for a writer. you can mold things. >> we started with "rumble" and link wray. i have to ask you a serious question.

are you a beatles fan or an elvis fan? >> i am both. i am more of a beatles fan. i am a baby boomer. there is a bias here. there are more baby boomer stories than the 1950s. -- than there should be. >> our guest has been jack doyle. he was 40 miles north of washington. he created a website back in 2008 called www.pophistorydig.com which he does all himself. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] for a dvd copy of this call this number

for free transcripts or to give us your comments, go to q&a.com. programs are also available as c-span podcasts. > at 7:00 a.m., your calls and comments on "washington journal ." live at 10:30, general ray odierno discusses military strategy and the impact of budget cuts at an event hosted by the american enterprise live at noon, conversation with white house council of economic advisors german alan krueger. this morning, we focus on the federal health care law and what it means for americans. we are kicking off a partnership series with kaiser health news.

three series -- senior correspondence join us -- correspondents join us to answer questions on insurance. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal," on this monday, july 29, 2013. we are looking in the federal health care law today. be joined by federal correspondence from kaiser health news. we will get started by asking you what you think the impact of the federal health care law is on you. have you felt its effects so far gecko what are you looking at -- so far? what are you looking at in the future? here are nu