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Connecticut Democrat Ned Lamont’s primary victory on Tuesday has been widely heralded as the first major win for the online liberal advocacy community. But how much credit do the so-called “net-roots” really deserve? Brooke speaks with Internet theorist and NYU telecom professor Clay Shirky about the political web in its age of adolescence.
A few months ago, a former Pentagon analyst was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for violating his security clearance by sharing government secrets with a couple of AIPAC lobbyists. But the lobbyists are also being prosecuted, even though they had no security clearance to violate. On Thursday, a federal judge ruled the case could go forward. Secrecy News editor Steven Aftergood tells Brooke why the decision threatens the ability of national security reporters to do their jobs.
More than a third of Americans believe the government had a part in the 9/11 attacks, according to a recent poll by Scripps Howard. And the underground success of the film “Loose Change,” which argues the attack was an inside job, suggests that fringe conspiracy theories are gradually taking root in the mainstream. Brooke speaks with Mark Fenster, conspiracy theory theorist, about the roots of public mistrust.
In other public opinion poll news, a recent Harris poll found that despite all evidence to the contrary, an increasing percentage of Americans believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to war. Bob talks to Harris Poll chairman Humphrey Taylor about how the truth sometimes merely gets in the way of what we know.
A partial recount is underway in Mexico’s July presidential elections –the closest in the nation’s history. But that’s little consolation to candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He’s alleging widespread vote fraud, and as evidence points to video footage collected by Luis Mandoki, a Mexican-born Hollywood director who was working on a documentary about Obrador at the time of the election. Mandoki tells Bob about being an unexpected actor in Mexican history.
Last summer, activist and freelance journalist Josh Wolf took part in an anti-globalization protest in San Francisco. A police car was vandalized and a policeman injured, and Wolf caught it all on tape. He received a subpoena for the entirety of his footage, but refused, and is now in jail for contempt. Brooke speaks with David Carlson, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, about whether journalists should be compelled to cooperate with law enforcement.
The heat has broken in New York City, and among those breathing a sigh of relief is sociologist Eric Klinenberg. His book on the fatal Chicago heat wave of 1995 earned him huge popularity among media looking for a seasonal quote. And because so many news organizations are based in New York, this summer has been a particularly busy one for him. Klinenberg tells Bob about being the media’s hot weather go-to guy.
This summer, Hollywood is offering us close-ups of a variety of American workplaces, ranging from the silly to the sadistic. Tinseltown has always had a weird perspective on real life, which for most of us consists in large part of work life. WNYC’s Sara Fishko reflects on the daily grind as portrayed on the silver screen.
Highlights from Past ShowsWhat does George W. Bush have in common with John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, and Lyndon Johnson? Each is a wartime president who took measures to quell dissent at home in the name of an American victory. And all of them, according to Geoffrey R. Stone’s book Perilous Times, went too far. Stone and Bob discuss what happens to the First Amendment when the nation is at war.
A week ago, Israeli warplanes sent missiles into two TV transmission towers used by the popular Lebanese channels LBC and Future TV. But as Israeli officials pointed out, at least one of the towers also contained relay stations for Hezbollah station Al Manar. It’s hardly the first time media have been caught up in fighting. But former CBS Middle East correspondent Lawrence Pintak tells Brooke that the global polarization of news has put individual reporters at risk like never before.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
