Jim Russell

Personal life As a result of having a US Foreign Service employee as a parent, grew up in Pakistan, Greece and Italy until age 16, which he credited with giving him "the ability to look at the world and my own country through others’ eyes.”

Russell began working for commercial radio stations in the Washington, D.C. market as a college student, including one of the earliest stations dedicated entirely to news; there, he delivered live coverage of major events including the Poor People's March on Washington, a protest against the Vietnam War in front of the Pentagon, and the 1968 Washington, D.C., riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King.

In his final years, Russell was the president of his consulting company, Jim Russell Productions—The Program Doctor.

He died on September 13, 2022, after suffering a fall and spending several days in the intensive care unit followed by hospice.