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In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the National Association of Black Journalists called on media outlets to refer to people fleeing New Orleans as "evacuees," rather than "refugees." Many complied, but others, after consulting their dictionaries and style guides, decided the new term lacked the scope befitting a national catastrophe. Bob examines the debate and discovers that even in the midst of a crisis, language can be critical.
A free forum of ideas suggests a back-and-forth exchange between individuals with various perspectives. But what happens when people are sequestered to separate discursive spaces on the basis of their ideas? As we're seeing all over the Internet these days, debate breaks down, and in its place we find simply a multiplicity of "echo chambers." Brooke talks with University of Chicago professor Cass Sunstein about the metaphorical reverberations of the phrase.
This week, we learned that the war on terrorism may soon be a thing of the past. Not that militants are laying down their suicide bombs, or that the U.S. is making peace with its enemies. It's just that the phrase "war on terrorism" is being retired. From now on, it will officially be referred to as the "struggle against violent extremism." Brooke speaks with CIA counterterrorism veteran Michael Scheuer about the semantic overhaul.
Question: What do you call the demographic of American Protestants with especially conservative social beliefs? Answer: Unclear. The group formerly known as the "Christian Right" has made it known that they'd rather be referred to as "Evangelicals." Not so fast, say liberal Evangelicals who vote Democratic, and who protest the tarnishing of their religion with politics. Brooke takes a closer look at a disputed moniker.
There's been a lot of talk recently about the exact definition of "torture." Some say it's an accurate descriptor of what happened to Iraqi detainees in U.S. custody. Others say those detainees were not tortured, but simply "abused," and that "torture" is something out of Saddam's dungeons. In a Newsday op-ed this week, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg mused over the invocation of the word "torture". He joins Bob to discuss the political uses and abuses of language, and his new book, Going Nucular: Language, Politics and Culture in Confrontational Times.
When it comes to information and inspiration for news stories, there are sources…and then there are wags. And over the years, the wags have contributed prodigiously to journalists in need. Usually, their contributions come in the form of quips. But who, in fact, are these wags? Bob sets out on a transnational investigation to find out.
A free forum of ideas suggests a back-and-forth exchange between individuals with various perspectives. But what happens when people are sequestered to separate discursive spaces on the basis of their ideas? As we're seeing all over the Internet these days, debate breaks down, and in its place we find simply a multiplicity of "echo chambers." Brooke talks with University of Chicago professor Cass Sunstein about the metaphorical reverberations of the phrase.
There's the geological definition of the word quagmire. And then there's that other meaning. In the American media, the word is becoming increasingly linked to Iraq, a place that could hardly be characterized as "a wet, boggy ground." Brooke chats with author and editor Tom Engelhardt about the Q-word and its usage.
