Kojo Nnamdi
| Kojo Nnamdi | |
|---|---|
Nnamdi in 2010
|
|
| Birth name | Rex Orville Montague Paul |
| Born |
January 8, 1945 Guyana |
| Show |
The Kojo Nnamdi Show and The Politics Hour – (WAMU) Evening Exchange – (WHUT) |
| Station(s) |
WAMU (radio) WHUT (television) |
| Country | United States |
| Website | WAMU website |
Kojo Nnamdi (born January 8, 1945) is an American radio journalist. He is the host of The Kojo Nnamdi Show and The Politics Hour on WAMU, and hosted the Evening Exchange broadcast on WHUT-TV from 1985 to 2011.
Nnamdi was born Rex Orville Montague Paul in Guyana. He emigrated to the United States in 1967 to attend college and explore the civil rights movement. He began his broadcast career in 1973 at WHUR-FM, as news editor. He hosted WHUT-TV's public affairs show Evening Exchange from 1985 to 2011, and he worked as a news editor and director before that.
Nnamdi described his name change to The Washington Examiner in a December 2005 profile: "It was the 1960s and everyone had a radio identity so I picked Kojo Nnamdi. Kojo means born on a Monday. Nnamdi Azikiwe is the father of Nigerian independence."Kojo is an Akan name for the people in Ghana, and Nnamdi is an Igbo name.
The Kojo Nnamdi Show is a continuation of the night-time talk show, The Fred Fiske Show, which was on WAMU from 1977 until 1987. Eventually, after a stint by Mike Cuthbert, this morphed into The Derek McGinty Show in 1991. Shortly thereafter the show was suddenly shifted to a daytime slot in 1992, replacing a popular music program. It was renamed Public Interest when McGinty left the program in January 1998. Nnamdi became host of the show in August 1998 and the name changed to The Kojo Nnamdi Show in September 2002.
On Fridays, Nnamdi hosts The Politics Hour, which covers topics related to political issues and events in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including surrounding Maryland and Virginia regions. Before January 2008, the show was titled The D.C. Politics Hour and focused solely on the D.C.-area political scene. In May 2008, WAMU fired resident political analyst (and Washington Examiner columnist) Jonetta Rose Barras after a salary dispute. The show then featured guest analysts until she was permanently replaced in February 2009 by WRC-TV political reporter Tom Sherwood.
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