On The Media is produced by:
After months of asking The Federal Reserve to disclose the details of two trillion dollars in government loans to troubled financial institutions, Bloomberg News is suing The Fed under the Freedom of Information Act. Bloomberg News editor in chief Matt Winkler says taxpayers should know where their money is going.
Last week’s Proposition 8 in California and this week’s same-sex vows in Connecticut have been about one thing: whose loving unions can legally be described as ‘marriage.’ Bob speaks with EJ Graff, author of What Is Marriage For? The Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution, about the semantics of the ‘M’ word and whether changing the term changes the struggle.
This week, struggling automakers learned they won't be getting a piece of the bailout for now. The auto industry and financial experts are debating the economic effects of a possible bankruptcy in this cornerstone of American manufacturing. But what about the effect on our collective psyche? USA Today's Sharon Carty discusses how the American car resonates in American culture.
If the car has a special place in the American psyche then the oft-maligned car critic is the force behind that narrative. In 2004, Brooke reflected on the business of car criticism with the Oscar Wilde of auto reviewers, the Los Angeles Times' car critic Dan Neil, shortly after his Pulitzer Prize win.
In light of two big media hoaxes this week, the fake New York Times distributed around the country and the fake source of the Sarah Palin Africa story, we decided to replay our 2007 conversation with author Robert Love. Love chronicles some of history's more memorable ink-stained hoaxes.
This week, the Supreme Court declined to review a case about whether it was legal to play Enya under a video montage of a murder victim’s life. Such "victim impact statements" serve as testimony submitted during the sentencing phase of a criminal trial. Public defender Evan Young discusses what she says is the regrettable art of swaying a jury.
In 1951, Grove Press was a tiny, almost-defunct publisher with just three titles in its catalogue. But then Barney Rosset took over and, with a few choice books, helped push America past its Puritanical roots and into the sexual revolution. Rosset, who will be honored by the National Book Foundation on November 19th, spoke with us at his home in Greenwich Village.
Highlights from Past Shows
On Tuesday night, by 9:30pm anyone who was able to add could predict Barack Obama’s victory. But as Brooke experienced firsthand, many waited to mourn or celebrate until the authoritative voices on the networks called the race. Brooke reflects back on election night.
After these many months, the campaign season is finally coming to a close. All of the angles have been explored, all the polls parsed and the candidates thoroughly vetted. Or not. Politico’s Kenneth Vogel rounds up a list of documents that the so-called candidates of change never did produce.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
