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Think you know reality? Ayn Rand did, and through her novels and nonfiction she gave legions of followers a practical philosophy by which to live. Brooke looks at the enduring legacy of the original Objectivist.
The Office of the Special Counsel is supposed to protect government whistleblowers, but watchdog groups charge that under director Scott Bloch the agency has been ineffectual and worse. The FBI raided Bloch’s office this week amid these allegations. Jeff Ruch, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, describes the investigation.
Last November the FBI used a top secret National Security Letter to demand user information from the Internet Archive, an online library. Internet Archive co-founder Brewster Kahle decided not to comply. Instead he sued and the FBI backed down. Kahle describes what it's like to challenge an NSL.
When news happens, and even when it doesn't, Rachel Maddow is there to discuss it. She has a radio show on Air America and often appears on MSNBC as a sidekick, guest, or panelist. Maddow gives a pundit's-eye-view of Tuesday's primary coverage and discusses the compromises of professional punditry.
Barack Obama's success in this week's primary contests took place despite an all-out effort by the Clinton campaign to paint him as "elite." Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg describes how the meaning of elite has changed over the years and psychologist Drew Westen explains why being labeled an elitist can be so damaging.
In his new book Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?, author Thomas Kohnstamm admits everything from drunken philandering to peddling ecstasy. But some critics say shoddy journalism is his greatest sin. Kohnstamm defends his memoir and his integrity.
Highlights from Past Shows
The story of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been irresistible to the news media for weeks, with images of FLDS women living as though in another century. But now the sister wives are fighting back in a very 21st century way. Salt Lake Tribune’s polygamy reporter Brooke Adams reviews the narrative.
As reported in The New York Times last weekend, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and others have turned, again and again, to military analysts – retired members of the armed forces hired by broadcast and cable networks – for their supposed expertise on the war. Only, it turns out, the analysts were often coached by the Pentagon in what the Times said were “hundreds of private briefings.” Among those named was Maj. Robert Bevelacqua, a former Green Beret and Fox News contributor through 2005. Bevelacqua discusses his own role in the march to war.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
