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How is Saddam Hussein’s execution playing in the Arab media? Depends on your sectarian filter. Arab media watcher Marc Lynch says that even the few outlets representing Shiite and Sunni viewpoints are themselves starting to come apart at the seams.
Most would agree that the Saddam execution video is “watchable” in a way the Nicholas Berg or Daniel Pearl decapitation videos aren’t. But art critic Richard Woodward says it still looks too much like a snuff film, and thus helps cement his legacy as a martyr.
Listeners weigh in on Brooke’s atheism report, Bob’s climbers-in-distress report, and on our public radio satire.
The Internet began as a digital Wild West, lawless and immune from market or government control. Columbia law professor Tim Wu explains not only how important national borders have proven to be, but also why policing them might not be so bad.
For some time, wireless Internet has been available in places like coffee shops and airport terminals. But now municipalities are moving to expand WiFi networks city-wide. OTM’s Mark Phillips reports that how cities choose to build the networks could have a big effect on the end result.
Efforts are underway to create a new generation of the web that’s smarter and more intuitive than the web we use today. Artificial Intelligence expert Nigel Shadbolt explains “Web 3.0,” and just how smart we can expect the future Internet to be.
Computer scientist Gordon Bell is at the vanguard of a movement called “lifelogging,” digitally recording every moment of his day in an effort to create a complete virtual memory of his life. But why? We talk with Bell and also technology writer Clive Thompson about the implications.
Listen to Brooke's unedited interview with Clive Thompson here.
Highlights from Past Shows
When Bill Clinton's press secretary, Mike McCurry, started allowing TV media to carry his daily press briefings live, he profoundly changed the daily ritual. McCurry and ABC News veteran Sam Donaldson discuss the extent to which the White House press corps is playing to the cameras.
If there's anything positive to come out of actor Michael Richards' recent racist rant , it's that people are once again discussing the limits of the N-word. Who can use it? How has its meaning changed over time? WNYC's Radio Rookie Veralyn Williams explores the complexities of a contested term.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
