Conan entered the field of
radio broadcasting at age 17, volunteering at
Pacifica Radio station
WBAI-FM in
New York City. He then worked at
public radio station WRVR-FM, where he met
Robert Siegel. At 27, Conan joined
National Public Radio. Conan's initial assignment for NPR was as a producer of
All Things Considered. Later, he covered the White House, the Pentagon, and the Department of State for the network. During the 1991
Gulf War, the
Iraqi Republican Guard detained Conan for a week. He and
Chris Hedges of
The New York Times were reporting on a
Shi'a rebellion centered in
Basra, Iraq. For five years, Conan hosted
Weekly Edition: The Best of NPR News. In 2000, Conan took a break from his work as a broadcaster to serve as the stadium play-by-play
baseball announcer for
Aberdeen Arsenal. A year later, he published
Play by Play: Baseball, Radio and Life in the Last Chance League, which described his experience. On September 10, 2001, Conan began his work as host of
Talk of the Nation. In 2008, investigative reporter
James Ridgeway covered the
Democratic primary elections for
Mother Jones—in one episode,
Mike Gravel was filmed in New Hampshire during a phone interview with Conan for
Talk of the Nation. NPR announced that it was ending the 12-year run of
Talk of the Nation on March 29, 2013, stating that Conan would "step away from the rigors of daily journalism." On February 12, 2014, an interview aired on
KUAZ 89.1,
Tucson, Arizona's NPR affiliate, during which Conan explained that ending
Talk of the Nation was not a decision he was involved in or agreed with, citing its status as one of NPR's most popular shows. He went on to join
Hawaii Public Radio as a news analyst on June 8, 2014. In January 2017, Conan launched a radio show and
podcast entitled
Truth, Politics, and Power, which focused on the
first presidency of Donald Trump. Conan interviewed experts weekly about a different issue arising from the
2016 election and the president's administration. ==Personal life==