On September 11, 2001, the world stopped.
Like so many others, I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the news broke.
For me, that day wasn’t just about watching events unfold on television - I was working.
At the time, I reported for the European Press Network and created audio submissions for Global Radio News, while also filing coverage for both local and international newspapers.
What you’ll hear in the podcast below is not a studio-polished episode.
Instead, it’s a compiled archival recording of the audio I sent in that day.
It isn’t perfect - the segments jump from one breaking development to another, sometimes without transition.
But that’s the reality of news reporting on a day when every moment mattered, and every detail needed to be filed as quickly as possible.
Voices from a Day of Crisis
The audio begins with urgent reports: the fall of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the confusion that gripped New York and Washington, and the ripple of fear across the nation.
Entire cities shut down, air traffic was halted, and people were sent home from work unsure what might happen next .
You’ll hear segments on:
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The black box recovery from the Pennsylvania crash site
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Reports of three men detained at JFK Airport amid heightened security
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Osama bin Laden named a prime suspect by Secretary of State Colin Powell
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Warnings of bogus fundraisers exploiting the tragedy
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Border searches along Mexico in response to bomb threats
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President Bush’s vow that the U.S. would “hunt down and punish those responsible”
These weren’t polished broadcasts — they were raw, fast-moving updates in real time, reflecting the chaos of the moment.
Human Stories Amid the Headlines
My reporting that day also included voices of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances:
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A Pennsylvania woman, Jamie Gola, hearing planes overhead and fearing the worst. “Jamie Gola said even late this afternoon she could still hear planes flying over her Pennsylvania home. When the tragedy struck this morning, Mrs. Gola, was sent home. Her company told her to go home and be with her family. ‘I was waiting to be taken home. I was sent home from work and I was waiting at the bus stop. The people were waiting to catch buses but the city had been shut down. Everyone was just terrified. Everyone was just scared. Everybody was in shock, just wanting to go home.’”
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A husband who narrowly escaped the towers, still unsure of his wife’s fate. “One man said he spoke with his wife after the first plane hit the Trade Center. He was directed to return to a higher floor for safety reasons. His wife did not go with him. When the second plane hit, he escaped but still does not know his wife’s whereabouts.”
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Eyewitnesses in New York describing streets filled with smoke, barricades, and stunned silence. “Norman Bauman, a medical writer who resides in New York, was in his home writing a story when he heard the news. ‘I couldn't do any work after I heard about this catastrophe. I just walked downtown as close as I could get to the scene, out of journalistic instinct/morbid curiosity. All the vehicular traffic was going uptown - the downtown avenues were empty. The trains weren't running, and the streets were full of people, walking mostly uptown. They had a very somber mood - the streets were crowded like New Year's Eve or a snow emergency, but they weren't cheerful like New Year's Eve or a snow emergency. Instead of seeing the twin towers looming up downtown, as usual, there was just smoke… The entire Wall Street area was filled with smoke. By Canal Street, I could look down the avenues, and see them ending in smoke. I finally got to the police barricades, about 4 blocks from the WTC, which was as close as you could get. By that time, the entire 2 towers had collapsed. That was a shock. I wasn't expecting the towers to collapse entirely.’”
Even now, two decades later, these fragments remind me that behind every headline was a life forever changed.
The Aftermath and Legacy
In the weeks that followed, I continued to cover developments: the removal of twisted steel beams later set aside for a memorial , calls for resilience from Mayor Giuliani, and reflections on how America might move forward in a world suddenly made unfamiliar.
Looking back, it is clear that September 11, 2001 was not just a day of loss but also a day that reshaped how we think about safety, freedom, and community.
Listen to the Original Audio
🎧 Podcast Episode: September 11, 2001 – Archival Recordings
This is a single compiled audio file containing the reports I submitted on that day.
Please keep in mind: it’s not a seamless, edited podcast.
It jumps quickly from one topic to another because that’s how I had to file my updates in real time.
Still, I believe it captures the urgency, uncertainty, and raw emotion of those hours in a way that polished reporting never could.
Closing Reflection
I share these archives not as polished journalism, but as living history.
They are imperfect, but they are real - a snapshot of how news traveled on September 11, 2001, through the voices of reporters like myself who were trying to make sense of chaos.
My hope is that by preserving and sharing them, we continue to remember the lives lost, the families forever changed, and the resilience that carried us forward.
