Humorist, journalist and actor Mo Rocca is best known for his offbeat news reports and satirical commentary. Currently a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, Rocca is also the host of CBS’s series The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. The show features stories about some of the world’s greatest inventions—past and present—and the effort it took to create them, educating and inspiring audiences with stories of creativity, hard work, and passion. Mo created and hosted the Cooking Channel’s My Grandmother’s Ravioli, in which he learned to cook from grandparents across America. He is also a frequent panelist on NPR’s hit weekly quiz show Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!
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In January of 2019, Rocca’s podcast Mobituaries debuted as a joint venture between CBS News and Simon & Schuster. Rocca’s long love of obituaries led him to launch the project, an irreverent but deeply researched appreciation of the people (and things) of the past who have long intrigued him—from an unsung Founding Father to the first Chinese-American superstar, from Neanderthals to the station wagon. Each of the first season’s eight episodes is richly produced, consisting of Rocca’s narrated storytelling combined with his original interviews (e.g. President Bill Clinton, whose inauguration pushed Audrey Hepburn’s obit off the front page) and some never-before-heard voices from the past, courtesy of the CBS News archives. The Mobituaries book was published in November 2019, coinciding with the podcast’s second season, and offers new, original stories combined with expanded “Mobits” from the show. It quickly became a New York Times best-seller, and the podcast is a highly-rated fixture on the iTunes charts. Mo spent four seasons as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and four seasons as a correspondent on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On Broadway, he played Vice Principal Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other stage credits include Doody in the Southeast Asian Tour of Grease.
Mo Rocca began his career in TV as a writer and producer for the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning PBS children’s series Wishbone. He went on to write and produce for other kids series, including ABC’s Pepper Ann and Nickelodeon’s The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss—a pre-school series combining the whimsy of Seuss characters with the magic of Jim Henson puppetry. Mo is the author of All the Presidents’ Pets, a historical novel about White House pets and their role in presidential decision-making.
In 2015, all three of Mo Rocca’s shows earned a total of five daytime Emmy Nominations, with CBS Sunday Morning and Innovation Nation each winning for excellence in programming.
Recommended Reading, Watching and Listening:
All the Presidents’ Pets by Mo Rocca
The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation on CBS
My Grandmother’s Ravioli on The Cooking Channel
Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me! podcast on NPR
February 28 Nonprofit Partner: Family Harvest Farm | John Muir Land Trust
Once a vacant lot in a densely populated neighborhood, this 3.5-acre parcel in Pittsburg, California is being repurposed into a thriving organic farm. The farm broke ground in Summer 2020. Its mission: to empower youth and adults to discover and participate in a local food system that encourages healthy living, nurtures the environment, and feeds the community.
Family Harvest Farm employs transition-age foster youth in a hands-on job-readiness program, teaching marketable skills and preparing them for life outside the foster care system. Volunteers work alongside our apprentices in an outdoor and collaborative setting. In addition to growing organic produce, the farm hosts educational workshops for the greater community.