On June 4, 2026, veteran journalist Dan Rather published a widely covered essay on his Substack newsletter, Steady.
While Dan Rather continues to write on modern politics, public radio hosts are digging into his extensive archival work. On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner looked back at a lighter moment in the newsman's career: his coverage of board game trends in the late 1970s.
In the episode, Stephen Dubner detailed the ancient origins of backgammon before highlighting how Dan Rather helped popularize its history on television. Dubner remarked that "Dan Rather, in a nineteen seventy-eight piece for sixty minutes, rattled off these and many other backgammon facts as he discussed the rising popularity of the game."
Rather's transition from 1970s television trend-spotting to 2020s digital newsletter giant shows the enduring power of his voice across media eras. Whether he is dissecting the history of ancient board games or writing his next essay for Steady, he remains a central reference point for modern commentators.