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It had to be one heck of a slow news week for the media to be shocked by a show hiding in plain sight. Racist humor has been a staple of Imus in the Morning for decades, but somehow that never deterred journos and politicos from hawking their wares with the I-Man.
Black vernacular has so pervaded the wider culture that even older white men like Don Imus want to claim it. But American Skin author Leon Wynter says African-Americans themselves may no longer be able to afford their own self-deprecating humor.
No longer able to question humanity's role in global warming, some industry groups have shifted tactics. Now, they’re highlighting the costs of capping carbon. Competitive Enterprise Institute president Fred Smith talks about his group's role in a time of 90% certainty.
Why do many Americans still refuse to accept scientific consensus on issues like climate change and evolution? Communications scholar Matt Nisbet says it's largely because scientists aren't framing their research in terms everybody can understand.
In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a manifesto against the irresponsible use of chemical pesticides. She's remembered fondly now, but historian Gary Kroll says that at the time, Carson was considered nothing short of subversive.
Earlier this month, Mitt Romney announced he’d raised more money than any other G.O.P. presidential candidate. Richard Ostling, co-author of Mormon America: The Power and The Promise, explains what the Romney moment means for the Mormon Church.
Recently, commuters at a D.C. metro station rushed by one of the world’s great violinists, and hardly noticed. The busking was an experiment set up by the Washington Post's Gene Weingarten. He walks us through his study of fine art out of context.
One of the last books the late, great Kurt Vonnegut wrote was a collection of essays in which he portrayed a reporter, interviewing the deceased. We listen in on what he found.
Highlights from Past Shows
When Leaves of Grass was deemed obscene in 1882, Mark Twain wrote a defense of Walt Whitman’s “noble work.” Now, Twain's essay is being published for the first time, in the Virginia Quarterly Review. University of Iowa professor Ed Folsom calls it classic Twain satire.
Why no emails from Alberto Gonzales in the prosecutor purge document dumps? He apparently doesn't use email. Ditto for other Cabinet members. Now some are questioning whether Bush staffers avoid email altogether, or just their official accounts. Government watchdog Melanie Sloan says there’s illegal obfuscation at work. And historian Anna Nelson explains the law that made presidential communications part of the public record.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
