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Journalist and historian Alvin Josephy Jr. died this week at the age of 90. He's most remembered for his writing on Indians of the American West. But in his earlier life as a reporter, he was best known as one of very few correspondents recording the sounds of World War II for the people back home. WNYC archivist Andy Lanset plays some of Josephy's old tapes for Brooke.
On her recent trip to the Middle East, State Department Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes was angling for positive press coverage there. But her reviews on this side of the pond were mixed, at best. One critic suggested Hughes take a lesson from Vladimir Posner, the former Soviet spokesman who was a frequent guest on American TV in the 1980's. Brooke speaks with Posner about his views on public diplomacy and propaganda, 20 years later.
Even as the death toll from Katrina continued to climb, TV news by Monday was already focused on Rita. The catastrophe of three weeks earlier infused the new Technicolor swirls with a sickening menace. But with or without Katrina, those satellite images were already well fixed in the TV lexicon. Bob discusses the history of hurricane reporting with weather historian David Laskin.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, charged with promoting and funding public broadcasting in the U.S. was created by Congress in 1967. But when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Law, he had more than radio and TV on his mind. Listen to the moment when LBJ invented the Internet.
What does The Communist Manifesto have in common with The Feminine Mystique? Both are among the top ten most harmful books of the 19th and 20th centuries, as determined by a panel of conservative thinkers assembled by Human Events Magazine. Herb London, president of the Hudson Institute, was among the judges. He joins Bob to discuss the danger of books.
Once upon a time, latchkey kids could curl up to the TV for dramatized versions of the more vexing issues of adolescence. Bullying, parental divorce, teen pregnancy, and the dangers of drugs were just some of the topics addressed in ABC's After School Specials, which aired from 1972 through 1988. OTM's Sarah Lemanczyk reports on how the series plays in 2005.
And so an end to the quest for the true identity of the shadowy figure with a penchant for parking garages and an eye for potted plants. But Slate.com senior writer Tim Noah says, knowing what he knows now, that there was never a level playing field in the Deep Throat sleuthing game. As he tells Brooke, Woodward and Bernstein have been dropping misleading hints for 30 years now.
Ever since the Beach Boys sang about losing their T-Bird, consumer products have often appeared in pop music lyrics. But artists weren’t paid for those product placements (though songs like Run DMC’s “My Adidas” resulted in lucrative backend deals). Lately, the negotiating has crept into the creative process itself. Bob talks to Advertising Age reporter TL Stanley about the increasingly intimate relationship between the music and advertising industries.
