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Mobituaries with Mo Rocca

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iHeartPodcasts and CBS News

“CBS News Sunday Morning” correspondent Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries. Each episode of Mobituaries covers his favorite dearly departed people and things. This season profiles legendary athlete Jim Thorpe in "Death of an All-American", iconic singer/songwriter Peggy Lee in "Death of Cool", and even the death of the mid-Atlantic accent, best known from the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Franklin Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy. Mo even has a few new things in store including an episode that looks back at folks who "Died on the Same Day.” Think: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett; John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; Jim Henson and Sammy Davis, Jr. – and then there’s Margaret Thatcher and Annette Funicello? Tune in for fresh takes on famous legacies and tributes to people who never got the sendoff they deserved. Even if you know the names, you’ve never understood why they matter until now!

#59

Death of a Name | Reviving a Mobit

What do you think will be the top baby names of 2025? Will "Mildred" make a comeback? What’s in a name…that makes it popular to one generation, and downright ugly to the next? From "Bertha" and "Layla" to "Reagan" and "Katrina," history shows us that politics, pop songs and news events all play roles in sending baby names skyrocketing or plunging in the rankings. Mo (short for "Maurice"!) returns to his elementary school to speak with his fifth grade teacher about his own name then talks to Columbia University linguist John McWhorter and actor Todd Bridges about other names that have seen better days. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

25 Dec 2024

42 MINS

42:05

25 Dec 2024

#58

Marlene Dietrich Goes To War | Reviving a Mobit

We’re celebrating the birthday month of the iconic Marlene Deitrich by revisiting a special episode from the "Mobituaries" audiobook. Marlene Dietrich cemented her status as a Hollywood legend with a series of iconic performances that flouted traditional women's roles and ignited the screen. But it's her passionate support for the United States, her adopted homeland, and the troops fighting in World War II that led Hitler to label her a traitor to the "Fatherland." When she could have enjoyed the indulgences of fame, she risked everything. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

18 Dec 2024

13 MINS

13:07

18 Dec 2024

#57

Sammy Davis Jr.: Death of the Entertainer | Reviving a Mobit

This week, we’re celebrating the birthday of the legendary Sammy Davis Jr. by revisiting a special Mobit. From the age of three Sammy Davis, Jr. did it all better than anyone else - singing, dancing, acting, even gun spinning. Mo talks to friends and family about what drove him to keep performing, even after the car crash that nearly killed him. Featuring Carol Burnett, Chita Rivera, Kim Novak, Dionne Warwick and more. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

11 Dec 2024

50 MINS

50:15

11 Dec 2024

#56

Wishbone: Death of a Working Dog | Reviving a Mobit

This week marks 8 years since the finale of the beloved series "Wishbone". In the 1990s, PBS introduced young audiences to a canine star like none other: a Jack Russell terrier who imagined himself as characters from classic works of literature. The show was called Wishbone. Today there's a whole generation of adults who were first weaned on Mark Twain, the legend of Faust or the Greek epics through this series. Wishbone is also the first TV show Mo wrote for. Mo talks with Wishbone head writer Stephanie Simpson and dog trainer Jackie Kaptan about the show and the life and career of its beloved lead actor, a dog named Soccer. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

04 Dec 2024

37 MINS

37:12

04 Dec 2024

#55

Neanderthals: Death of a Human Species | Reviving a Mobit

Did you know November 9 is National Neanderthal Appreciation Day? Reivist this episode where Mo welcomes his friend Michael Ian Black – comedian, author, podcaster, and, as it turns out, Neanderthal (we’ll explain). Mo talks to Michael and the world’s leading researchers about why our extinct human cousins Neanderthals have gotten such a bad rap for so many many years, and how we’re learning more about how close we really were. Oh, Mo also talks to the guy who played Cha-ka on the 70s kids show Land of the Lost. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

27 Nov 2024

41 MINS

41:23

27 Nov 2024

#54

Sitcom Deaths and Disappearances | Reviving a Mobit

In honor of the anniversary of the first-ever sitcom broadcast on a U.S. television network (fun fact: it was "Mary Kay and Johnny" back in November 1947), we're revisiting "Sitcom Deaths and Disappearances." Characters on sitcoms aren't supposed to die. So when they do, it's never less than weird. Mo examines some of the most infamous sitcom deaths and disappearances with Henry Winkler, Sandy Duncan and Alan Sepinwall. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

21 Nov 2024

40 MINS

40:05

21 Nov 2024

#53

Literary Frontierswoman: Laura Ingalls Wilder

This special episode comes from the audiobook edition of ROCTOGENARIANS, a brand-new collection of stories from Mo Rocca that celebrates the triumphs of people who made their biggest marks late in life. Chances are, you know something about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. If, like sixty million other people, you once enjoyed the Little House books, you’ll know that the series breaks off when Laura, at eighteen, marries Almanzo Wilder and leaves her parents to start her own life and her own family in her own little house. But Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t publish Little House in the Big Woods until she was sixty-five. So what happened in the intervening years? And how did the heroine of the books become the beloved author who, many years later, told these charming stories? ROCTOGENARIANS is available wherever hardcover, ebooks and audiobooks are sold. Learn more: [https://bit.ly/4bOBgn6] (https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/bit.ly/4bOBgn6__;!!MbTiNj2pbBzljg!LpGMnBGNdxHzxmoEKuN_4_4dCYz4VymzdT8dWkFKVvH9ojLspthCC-GMX1cmStQvVtmi-6S9tc6qaPSfh0dCMrXheA$) See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

11 Jun 2024

20 MINS

20:35

11 Jun 2024

#52

LaWanda Page: Death of a Comedy Queen

Long before her turn as the sermonizing Aunt Esther on "Sanford and Son," LaWanda Page was dazzling Black nightclub audiences - first as the flame-swallowing “Bronze Goddess of Fire”. Then, following in the footsteps of her childhood friend and eventual costar Redd Foxx, she became a queen of raunchy, tell-it-like-it-is stand up comedy. (Let’s just say Aunt Esther would not have approved of LaWanda’s act.) In this season 4 finale, Mo reflects on Page’s influential career with entertainment icon Whoopi Goldberg and remembers the adults-only "party record' phenomenon with comedian Alonzo Bodden. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

03 Jan 2024

44 MINS

44:27

03 Jan 2024

#51

Revisiting the Orphan Train: An American Odyssey

Between 1854 and 1929, 250,000 orphans and abandoned children were placed on East Coast city trains and sent west to live with new families. A desperate solution to a desperate problem, some of the stories turned out well and some far from well. The remarkable stories of these riders live on through their descendants, many of whom continue to search for answers about their ancestry. Mo talks to one of these descendants and tracks down the last surviving Orphan Train rider. This episode originally aired on December 20, 2019. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

27 Dec 2023

44 MINS

44:43

27 Dec 2023

#50

Death of a Sports Team: Satchel Paige and Los Dragones

There’s no shortage of sports teams that change cities or names over the course of their franchise history. But what about the teams that just cease to exist? Perhaps no team story packs more drama into one year of existence than that of Los Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo. It’s a story that combines one of the most celebrated names in baseball history with one of the biggest names in twentieth-century dictatorship. This special episode comes from the audiobook edition of Mobituaries. You can learn more here: [http://bit.ly/MoAudio] (http://bit.ly/MoAudio) See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

20 Dec 2023

25 MINS

25:13

20 Dec 2023

#49

Death of the Very Special Episode

If you were a kid watching TV in the 1980s and 1990s, you probably saw a fair number of “Very Special Episodes,” when the usual blissful bubble of the sitcom world was punctured by real-world issues for a half-hour. Drugs, drinking and driving, stranger danger, even AIDS. But never fear, all would be resolved by episode’s end. (Sometimes the material was so heavy, it required a two-parter.) So why did such a mainstay for a generation of families disappear? And how much was Seinfeld to blame? Mo talks with entertainment writer Jessica Shaw and the late great Norman Lear about the birth, life and death of a cultural phenomenon. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

13 Dec 2023

43 MINS

43:17

13 Dec 2023

#48

Mobits Extra: How Norman Lear Changed Television

Starting in the early 1970s, Norman Lear changed the face of television, fusing comedy with social commentary. Lear died on December 5th at the great old age of 101. Mo revisits their 2015 conversation for CBS Sunday Morning. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

07 Dec 2023

16 MINS

16:38

07 Dec 2023

#47

The Habsburg Jaw: Death of a Dynasty

For centuries European royals married only each other. It was believed to be the best way of consolidating power. But rampant royal inbreeding had increasingly negative consequences––including genetic abnormalities (like the protuberant “Habsburg Jaw”), the dying off of whole lines, and eventually serious geopolitical instability that culminated in World War I. Mo and Barnard College professor and bestselling author Caroline Weber discuss the practice that ended up being way more than just a family matter. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

06 Dec 2023

49 MINS

49:54

06 Dec 2023

#46

Death of a Nepo Baby

“Nepo Baby” is a term popularly used to describe the celebrity children of celebrity parents. But family connections affect every field of work, and always have. And where family is involved, so is drama. Mo tells the stories of three of history’s biggest Nepo Babies: Edsel Ford, the son of Henry Ford; President John Quincy Adams, the son of President John Adams; and Pushinka, daughter of Soviet space dog Strelka. (Yes, fur babies can be nepo babies!) See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

29 Nov 2023

50 MINS

50:45

29 Nov 2023

#45

JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader: Death of a Career

November 22, 2023, marks 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the end of one of the era's biggest comedy acts. During Kennedy's term, Vaughn Meader’s impersonation of the president made him a household name. The comedy album "The First Family,” in which Meader uncannily played JFK, broke sales records and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Meader's act was so convincing and edgy for the time, White House advisers actually worried about the public confusing him for the real thing. Mo tells the story of Vaughn Meader's brief and blazing time in the limelight and the long darkness that followed, alongside never-before-heard tape of Meader recorded shortly before his death. This episode originally published on January 17, 2019. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

15 Nov 2023

49 MINS

49:59

15 Nov 2023

#44

Charlie McCarthy: Death of a Dummy

When Candice Bergen describes her childhood as weird and eccentric, she isn’t exaggerating. She grew up with a world-famous sibling, who met presidents and movie stars. He was also a dummy – the kind made of wood. Charlie McCarthy was the creation of her ventriloquist father Edgar Bergen. Candice tells Mo what life was like sharing her father’s love and attention with a puppet. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

08 Nov 2023

40 MINS

40:14

08 Nov 2023

#43

Things I Wish Would Die

On this podcast we’ve honored some of our past’s most outstanding and underappreciated people and things. May they live on in memory. But let’s face it, some things deserve to disappear and be consigned to the dustbin of history. In this episode, Mo nominates three things that he’d like to see go the way of the dodo. Mo talks to food writer Kim Severson about buffets, culture critic Erick Neher about standing ovations, and sensory historian Mark Smith about noise. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

01 Nov 2023

41 MINS

41:47

01 Nov 2023

#42

Death of an Accent

Have you ever wondered about that old timey accent so many actors used in black and white movies? Hollywood stars like Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Orson Welles, who sounded sort of British … but not quite. Was it all a put on or did people back then talk that way in real life? Mo investigates the emergence and disappearance of the accent commonly known as “Mid-Atlantic” with the help of linguist John McWhorter. Plus Hollywood dialect coach Jessica Drake tries her best to teach Mo how to talk that way. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

25 Oct 2023

48 MINS

48:28

25 Oct 2023

#41

Jim Thorpe: Death of an All-American

When gold medalist Jim Thorpe was dubbed "the world's greatest athlete" at the 1912 Olympics, it wasn't hype. Football, baseball, lacrosse, even ballroom dancing ... Thorpe was the world's first multi-sport superstar. But when the Native American icon had his Olympic medals unjustly stripped from him, he faced his toughest hurdle yet. Mo talks to biographer David Maraniss about Thorpe's meteoric rise from Oklahoma Indian territory to global celebrity, and his surprising third act in Hollywood. Plus an interview with granddaughter Anita Thorpe. And Mo visits Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, a town with a history as startling as the man himself. See [omnystudio.com/listener] (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information. ... Read more

18 Oct 2023

47 MINS

47:28

18 Oct 2023

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#59