The spirit of Sundance
This month, the Sundance Film Festival is once again providing a showcase for independent filmmakers and documentarians from around the world. But that isn't all that Sundance does. "Sunday Morning" goes behind the scenes.
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Lee Cowan is an Emmy-award-winning journalist serving as a national correspondent and substitute anchor for "CBS News Sunday Morning." His reporting also appears on all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.
Based in Los Angeles, Cowan has conducted interviews with a variety of news and entertainment personalities including first lady Michelle Obama, pop star Bruno Mars, comedy great Carol Burnett and tennis legend Billie Jean King. In addition, he's covered issues ranging from the nation's public defender system, the water crisis on the Navajo Nation and childhood hunger.
Cowan has spent more than two decades of his nearly 30-year career at CBS News spread over two periods.
For CBS he's covered the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2006 conflict in Beirut and the 2006 tsunami in Indonesia.
As a national correspondent for NBC News — where he was reporting for the "NBC Nightly News," "Today" and MSNBC — Cowan was assigned to cover the campaign and election of President Barack Obama; the tsunami in Japan in 2011, the crisis in Libya and the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
Previously, Cowan served as a correspondent for CBS Newspath, CBS News' 24-hour news service, and was a researcher for CBS News' "CBS News Nightwatch" and then for the "CBS Evening News" in Washington, D.C.
His reporting career started in local news, serving as an anchor and reporter for WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. Prior to that, he was an anchor and reporter WWMT-TV, in Kalamazoo, Mich., and a weekend anchor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, Calif. Before joining KCOY-TV, Cowan held positions as news director and anchor at NBC affiliate KIEM-TV in Eureka, Calif.
Born in Salt Lake City, Cowan graduated from the University of Washington with a double major in communications and speech communications in 1988. He is married to Molly Palmer, a producer on NBC's "Today," and together they have a son, Kevin Cowan, born in 2014.
This month, the Sundance Film Festival is once again providing a showcase for independent filmmakers and documentarians from around the world. But that isn't all that Sundance does. "Sunday Morning" goes behind the scenes.
"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the newsworthy men and women who passed away this year – musicians and storytellers, athletes and activists – who touched us with their creativity and humanity.
When it comes to eating healthy, all of us respond to foods differently. The National Institutes of Health's new nutrition study hopes to finally provide Americans a personalized answer to the question: "What should I eat?"
The singer-dancer-actor has lived many lives, and she's documented them in her new memoir, "The Wall of Life," a photographic account of her remarkable journey from Broadway to Hollywood and beyond.
Three female Republican legislators bucked their party to join a Democrat and an Independent in filibustering South Carolina's near-total ban on abortion. For their efforts, the three lost their party's primaries, but say they're proud of what they accomplished.
Ralph Macchio and his "Karate Kid" co-star William Zabka have transferred their young martial arts rivalry into adulthood, playing their characters as grown-ups in the series "Cobra Kai," now in its sixth and final season on Netflix.
A DNA test that Matt Katz took to answer questions about his ancestry only stirred more mysteries. The investigative journalist dug into a past replete with family secrets and early fertility treatments, and turned his journey into a podcast, "Inconceivable Truth."
"Sunday Morning" has an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the country singer's first post-stroke song, "Where That Came From," which blends art with artificial intelligence in a recording that captures Travis' country heart.
It's been almost 20 years since Dan Rather signed off at the network where he spent 44 years covering wars, politics, and the assassination of JFK. But he has not retired from the life of a reporter.
As their copyrights expire, books, music and films - from Sherlock Holmes and "The Great Gatsby," to Walt Disney's original Mickey Mouse - enter the public domain, inspiring new creative ideas, from Broadway musicals to slasher films.
The Australian actress made a big impression in the films "Bridesmaids" and "Pitch Perfect," but she also faced emotional pain, professional obstacles and tabloid battles.
The country artist unafraid to write lyrics that strike a chord, and maybe a few nerves, has released her fourth studio album, "The Devil I Know." What makes her success all the sweeter is that almost all of it came after McBryde took on one of her demons: alcohol.
The Oscar-nominated actress and activist has returned to her love of painting; this past year she's had two gallery shows in the U.S., with a third about to open in Berlin.
The Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, Colorado, renowned for inspiring Stephen King's "The Shining," is now the home for Bredo Morstøl, a deceased Norwegian whose remains had been kept on ice since 1989, and which are now cryogenically frozen.
The two-time Oscar-winner has been on screen since she was three, but she has often contemplated leaving acting behind. Now, at age 61, she's starring in the new HBO series "True Detective: Night Country," and in the Netflix sports drama "Nyad."