Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams - Post-speech Media Coverage

Post-speech Media Coverage

Pausch was named "Person of the Week" on ABC's World News with Charles Gibson on September 21. His "Last Lecture" has attracted wide attention from the international media, become an Internet hit, and was viewed over a million times in the first month after its delivery. On October 22, 2007, Pausch appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where he discussed his situation and recapped his "Last Lecture" for millions of TV viewers.

On October 6, 2007, Pausch joined the Pittsburgh Steelers for the day during their regular practice, after the organization learned that one of his childhood dreams mentioned in his "Last Lecture" was to play in the National Football League. A devoted Star Trek fan, Pausch was invited by film director J. J. Abrams to film a role in the latest Star Trek movie. Abrams heard of Pausch's condition and sent a personal e-mail inviting Pausch to the set. Pausch happily accepted and traveled to Los Angeles, California to shoot his scene. In addition to appearing in the film, he also has a line of dialogue and donated the $217.06 paycheck to charity. On April 9, 2008, the ABC network aired an hour long Diane Sawyer feature on Pausch entitled "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life." On July 29, 2008, ABC aired a follow up to the Last Lecture special, remembering Pausch.

Journalist and essayist Christopher Hitchens criticized the lecture in a 2010 Vanity Fair article discussing his experience with esophageal cancer, calling the lecture "so sugary that you may need an insulin shot to withstand it," and saying, "It ought to be an offense to be excruciating and unfunny in circumstances where your audience is almost morally obliged to enthuse."