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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The NPR Story behind HBO's 'Confirmation'

    With an opening Saturday, the HBO film Confirmation is about the Senate hearings that ultimately put Clarence Thomas on the US Supreme Court in 1991. One witness was Anita Hill, a young lawyer who claimed that Thomas sexually harassed her when she worked for him at two federal agencies.

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    By Warren Olney • Apr 14, 2016 • 11m Listen

    With an opening Saturday, the HBO film Confirmation is about the Senate hearings that ultimately put Clarence Thomas on the US Supreme Court in 1991. One witness was Anita Hill, a young lawyer who claimed that Thomas sexually harassed her when she worked for him at two federal agencies.

    The Judiciary Committee was on the way to confirming Thomas until NPR's Supreme Court reporter, Nina Totenberg, noticed identical envelopes on each Senator's desk, and made a connection with Chairman Joe Biden's comment that evidence should not include what he called "rank gossip." She had heard rumors about Thomas…and she took it from there.

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    It's Not Democracy, It's the Rules
    1. 1:48Jobless Claims Match Lowest Figure in 43 Years
    2. 8:45It's Not Democracy, It's the Rules
    3. 41:32The NPR Story behind HBO's 'Confirmation'You’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Paul von Zielbauer

      Co-founder of Geezer magazine, former producer for To the Point and Which Way LA?; former reporter for the New York Times

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Evan George

      Director of Content, News

    • KCRW placeholder

      Nina Totenberg

      NPR

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    It's Not Democracy, It's the Rules
    1. 1:48Jobless Claims Match Lowest Figure in 43 Years
    2. 8:45It's Not Democracy, It's the Rules
    3. 41:32The NPR Story behind HBO's 'Confirmation'You’re reading this
    Back to To the Point