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From Giuliani’s “Leadership” to Clinton’s “Living History,” having a book - or two or three - seems like a prerequisite for candidacy in 2008. Emily Heil of the congressional newspaper Roll Call has read a whole stack of them - so you don't have to.
Michael Kinsley is a longtime columnist and editor, mostly of non-fiction. He also happens to think there’s much too much of the stuff and even he has trouble staying afloat in the sea of new books each year. Kinsley explains his predicament.
In the 1950s, the mainstream American press had very little experience covering segregation and its impacts. In The Race Beat, Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff tell the story of how the civil rights struggle gradually made its way onto the front pages.
Nearly a century ago, Aimee Semple McPherson became the model of the modern, self-made media sensation. In a biography, Matthew Avery Sutton argues that ‘Sister’ Aimee’s savvy brand of religion brought Christian evangelicalism into the mainstream.
Bob offers his appreciation of one reporter's global search for a journalistic rarity, happy stories.
The AK-47, one of Russia’s most popular exports, turned 60 this year. Michael Hodges, author of AK47: The Story of the People’s Gun, says that the weapon Mikhail Kalashnikov invented to defend his motherland has become a symbol of Third World revolutionary struggle and Islamic jihad.
As the Iraq War got underway, Nicholas Kulish experienced it first-hand as an embedded reporter for The Wall Street Journal. But his novel, Last One In, takes a less journalistic approach and instead tells the story of a gossip columnist turned embedded war correspondent on the front lines in Iraq.
Highlights from Past Shows
It's that time of year, when presidential candidates' thoughts turn to misstatements of fact. But with more and more news outlets taking the pols to task for their public speeches and ads, might accuracy be gaining the upper hand? Brooks Jackson, director of factcheck.org, explains his quest to make the political landscape a more truthful place.
There's a good chance that the Federal Election Commission will head into 2008 without enough confirmed members to act. What then? Former FEC Chairman Brad Smith and Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal Center weigh in. Plus, a campaign reform loophole as big as the Ron Paul blimp.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
