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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.
Television viewers under a certain age think of the big three broadcast networks as having existed since the dawn of time. A misconception, of course - but largely because of what it omits. In TV's earliest days, there was also the DuMont Network, a pioneering enterprise that aired some of its era's most popular programs. Bob talks history with David Weinstein, author of new book that chronicles the rise and fall of DuMont.
Fifteen years ago this summer, American journalism lost one of its greatest practitioners. I.F. Stone worked for many newspapers, but always refused to play by the rules of the Washington press corps. Still, Izzy Stone was ahead on covering McCarthyism, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War. OTM producer Megan Ryan reflects on Stone's career.
