On The Media

May 9, 2008 (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:11 GMT

Show Summary: The Internet Archive challenges a secret FBI demand and wins; a peek inside the mind of an MSNBC pundit; the enduring legacy of Ayn Rand.

Scott Bloch(ed) (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:02 GMT

The Office of the Special Counsel is supposed to protect government whistleblowers, but watchdog groups charge that under director Scott Bloch the agency has been ineffectual and worse. The FBI raided Bloch’s office this week amid these allegations. Jeff Ruch, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, describes the investigation.

Letter of the Law (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:09 GMT

Last November the FBI used a top secret National Security Letter to demand user information from the Internet Archive, an online library. Internet Archive co-founder Brewster Kahle decided not to comply. Instead he sued and the FBI backed down. Kahle describes what it's like to challenge an NSL.

Inside the Mind of a Talking Head (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:21 GMT

When news happens, and even when it doesn't, Rachel Maddow is there to discuss it. She has a radio show on Air America and often appears on MSNBC as a sidekick, guest, or panelist. Maddow gives a pundit's-eye-view of Tuesday's primary coverage and discusses the compromises of professional punditry.

The Elite Beat (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:32 GMT

Barack Obama's success in this week's primary contests took place despite an all-out effort by the Clinton campaign to paint him as "elite." Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg describes how the meaning of elite has changed over the years and psychologist Drew Westen explains why being labeled an elitist can be so damaging.

Travels and Tribulations (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:38 GMT

In his new book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?, author Thomas Kohnstamm admits everything from drunken philandering to peddling ecstasy. But some critics say shoddy journalism is his greatest sin. Kohnstamm defends his memoir and his integrity.

Object Lesson (On The Media: Friday, 09 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:54 GMT

Think you know reality? Ayn Rand did, and through her novels and nonfiction she gave legions of followers a practical philosophy by which to live. Brooke looks at the enduring legacy of the original Objectivist.

May 2, 2008 (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:55 GMT

Illegal Sects (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:11 GMT

The story of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been irresistible to the news media for weeks, with images of FLDS women living as though in another century. But now the sister wives are fighting back in a very 21st century way. Salt Lake Tribune’s polygamy reporter Brooke Adams reviews the narrative.

Under Murdoch's Watch (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:21 GMT

Rupert Murdoch has had several months to exert influence over his new property, The Wall Street Journal. Many see the modifications to the paper and his grab for Newsday as a direct attack on The New York Times but Slate's Jack Shafer says the speculation is overblown.

Search is the New Black (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:34 GMT

Rushmore Drive is a new search engine designed to return results targeted to black people. CEO Johnny Taylor explains why segregated search makes sense and web entrepreneur Omar Wasow gives a status report on the state of the black internet.

The Pleasure Principle (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:51 GMT

Consuming the same media as your peers is what social scientists call homophily, better known as ‘birds of a feather flock together’. Ethan Zuckerman, blogger and internet theorist, has been trying to fight this instinct online. He offers techniques for surprising and challenging readers with news that they didn't know they wanted.

Correction and Letters (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:59 GMT

Brooke and Bob read a few of your letters and comments.

Sex, Drugs, and Video Games (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:39 GMT

This week's release of Grand Theft Auto IV provoked a frenzy of media coverage heralding the game's design, touting the record-breaking sales and of course, examining the threat the game poses to our children. But Lawrence Kutner has authored a new book suggesting violent video games do not create violent children.

Acid Reflux (On The Media: Friday, 02 May 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:35 GMT

65 years ago, Dr. Albert Hofmann embarked on the first intentional acid trip, when he ingested 250 µg and set out from his lab on a bicycle. On the occasion of Hofmann’s death this week, we rerun this interview with Acid Dreams author Martin Lee. He reflects on the uses and misuses of LSD.

April 25, 2008 (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:30 GMT

This Week: military analysts on the air, Nazi prison-guard porn and a forgotten New Orleans newspaper

Instruments of War (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:17 GMT

As reported in The New York Times last weekend, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and others have turned, again and again, to military analysts – retired members of the armed forces hired by broadcast and cable networks – for their supposed expertise on the war. Only, it turns out, the analysts were often coached by the Pentagon in what the Times said were “hundreds of private briefings.” Among those named was Maj. Robert Bevelacqua, a former Green Beret and Fox News contributor through 2005. Bevelacqua discusses his own role in the march to war.

Cooking the Books (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:33 GMT

To get a read on the vital signs of our increasingly shaky economy, media turn to those all-important stats: unemployment, consumer price index, GDP. But Kevin Phillips, political and economic commentator, says that for decades administrations have been altering the definitions of those stats to paint a rosier outlook.

Dialing for Dollars (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:33 GMT

From South Africa to Bangladesh to the Philippines, cell phones are dramatically changing the way people in developing countries conduct business and receive healthcare. As Sara Corbett reported in The New York Times Magazine, the phone is a transformational technology.

Oh No They Didn't! (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:26 GMT

Eight of Ohio's top newspapers are sharing content in a cooperative effort called the Ohio News Organization, or OHNO. The arrangement will allow the papers to sidestep the AP. Could this system be a lifeline for struggling news organizations? Is it the end of the scoop as we know it? Cleveland Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg explains the papers' decision to collaborate.

The Forgotten Paper (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:23 GMT

In researching his New Orleans neighborhood, Times Picayune columnist Lolis Eric Elie stumbled across the story of the nation's first African-American daily newspaper, The New Orleans Tribune. Elie's new film shows how the paper thrived during Reconstruction and played a large role in legal challenges to segregation, culminating in Plessy v. Ferguson.

Comics on the Stand (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:10 GMT

In his new book, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, David Hajdu tells the story of the spectacular rise and devastating fall of the comic book. He says comics helped shape America's post-war cultural landscape.

Rude Awakening (On The Media: Friday, 25 April 2008)

onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:26 GMT

For a few years in the early 1960s, small, pornographic books called Stalags were a runaway success in Israel. The books were set in Nazi prisoner-of-war camps and featured a complicated mix of violence, sex and revenge fantasy. And according to Ari Libsker’s new documentary, "Stalag," they shaped, and even perverted, a generation’s feelings about the Holocaust.