Clockwise from top left: Susan Stamberg, Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer, and Lisa Napoli discuss the early days of National Public Radio in a National Archives online program on April 13, 2021. WASHINGTON, April 16, 2021 â Their voices became familiar to the public throughout decades of news, on commutes and in crises, an âold girlsâ networkâ in the nascent days of public radio: Susan Stamberg, Linda Wertheimer, Nina Totenberg, and Cokie Roberts. This week, in conversation with journalist and author Lisa Napoli, three broadcasting legends candidly recounted the beginning of what would become the standard-setting National Public Radio, the challenges of trailblazing as women in a misogyny-driven 1970s work environment, and the legacy of friend and colleague Roberts, who died in September 2019.