From The Archives: Capturing "The Falling Man" ~ A 9/11 Special Tribute
SmartHERNews
Jenna Lee
4.9 • 660 Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"That's what I do everyday. I record history."
Photojournalist Richard Drew has spent more than five decades with the Associated Press. On the morning of September 11th, 2001, while on assignment for Fashion Week in New York City, a call from his editor sent Richard racing to downtown Manhattan with only a brief description - "A plane has hit the World Trade Center." Finding himself at the base of the Twin Towers, Richard captured the impact of the deadliest terror attack in American history (and the single deadliest terror attack ever).
Amongst the many historical photos he took that day, Richard captured a moment now known around the world as "The Falling Man." In this interview, Richard weaves us through the streets of New York City, sharing the moments before and after an unexpected assignment, and why he believes we shouldn't look away from this photo.
On a personal note: Richard and I knew each other for years before I learned of his contributions to the historical record of September 11th, 2001. During our first meeting, we discovered that he had worked with my grandfather at the Associated Press bureau in San Francisco in the 1970s! What are the chances? From that point on, I always felt a special bond with Richard, as if he knew a part of my own story that no else does - especially since my grandfather passed away long before I could pepper him with questions about his journalism career. As you'll see in this interview, I press Richard on why he thinks he has found himself steps from so many significant historical moments. And like any good photojournalist, Richard leaves this up to you to come to your own conclusions.
*First recorded and aired in 2001 on the 20th anniversary of 9/11
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/smarthernews/exclusive-content
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello from the Heartland. My name is Jenna and this is Smarter News, news when it matters and why it matters. |
| 0:10.4 | Our Smarter series features unique people who help us think and live smarter. |
| 0:18.6 | Richard, have you ever thought of how many photos you've taken over the course of your career? How many |
| 0:24.4 | would you estimate? Wow. Well, it's been 51 years with the AP. And many years before that, |
| 0:32.6 | I worked for two newspapers in the Los Angeles area prior to that. So it's, I don't even want to think |
| 0:38.0 | on how many pictures that is. What about just an event? Like if you went out to take |
| 0:43.0 | pictures of an event, how many photos would you come home with from that event, typically? |
| 0:48.8 | Today, for example, I was at the New York Stock Exchange and I was on the trading floor. |
| 0:57.5 | And I walked around and I picked pictures of people, you know, |
| 1:00.1 | the traders doing the thing and the opening bell. |
| 1:08.8 | And then I come back and I sit down and out of my pictures that I took maybe 40 or more frames. |
| 1:12.3 | Oh, I guess that'd be more than that, maybe 50 frames. I have two cameras, |
| 1:19.7 | so I had two different lenses. And then I edited it down and transmitted for the AP eight photos out of that. Okay. So that gives us an idea. Context is everything, as you know, as a journalist. |
| 1:26.4 | Just so I give you a proper |
| 1:27.5 | introduction, Richard Drew is a photojournalist with the Associated Press, the AP, and we met in |
| 1:35.0 | an unexpected way and a really special way to me, Richard. So this is like interviewing a friend |
| 1:42.4 | or maybe even a family member, which will explain |
| 1:44.8 | in just a moment. |
| 1:45.7 | I feel that way about you. |
| 1:49.0 | And a few years after we met, I actually learned something very unexpected about you that |
| 1:53.4 | I didn't know when we first said a hello. |
| 1:55.6 | And that is that you took one of the most profound historical photos of the September 11th terrorist attacks. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jenna Lee, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jenna Lee and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.