If I were NPR, I don't know if I'd be doing that. Not if the taped meeting that got Vivian Schiller fired included -- though most overlooked it -- the claim by NPR that they could hide a donation, keep it off the books. I don't know if I were NPR and Congress had lost trust in me that I'd be doing things that might trigger the legislature to order an outside audit. If I were begging for public money, I don't think I'd flaunt my disdain for the public. A lot of money goes into NPR, a lot of money goes out. Contrary to popular belief, there's no outside oversight of that flow.
In Iraq today, deaths are in the double digits due to a bombing. NPR doesn't have the story, NPR never has the story anymore. But they sure spend the money like they're pursuing the story.
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament, released a statement decrying today's attack and insisting "that security forces reveal the outcome of an investigation into previous attacks." Rob Crilly (Telegraph of London) counts 35 dead from the two Taji bombings. Aswat al-Iraq quotes "a security source" who states that there was a bombing in a garage and "a booby-trapped car". Hurriyet notes that the "two bombs detonated near a government council building."
Yashir Ghazi and Tim Arango (New York Times) quote survivor Hesham Hasoon, "Why am I still alive? My brothers, friends, everyone left me. [. . .] When the first explosion happened, I saw the people and the kids start to gather near the car bomb and I knew something else would happen. I called on the stupid soldier to evacuate the place but he didn't care." Sinan Salaheddin (AP) quotes a police officer stating, "It was awful ... some of the lightly wounded people were running in all directions, either crying or screaming for help."
We'll close with this:
Rethinking Radio, Cultivating Conversation
| Aimee Bender returns to our program on the occasion of our 400th installment to discuss The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Edward Hopper, the relationship between empathy and fantasy, and the benefits of memorizing poetry. (Link to show.) How can the quest for facts get you more access with a highly protective religious organization? Is Scientology a cult? This only scratches the surface of an eye-opening hour with Inside Scientology author Janet Reitman. (Link to show.) "We could just ban the usage of all landfills and have this Wall-E situation where every amount of trash that we produce is right outside our homes!" Or we can consider how we use plastics. Our conversation with Susan Freinkel involved a technical malfunction. So while we don't have audio for this one, we do have an engaging 8,000 word transcript. (Link to transcript.) In 1965, Lyndon Johnson boomed, "Less than five dollars invested in population control is worth a hundred dollars invested in economic growth." We discuss with Mara Hvsitendahl how such statements have led to serious issues of population balance in the rest of the world. (Link to show.) We had read James Gleick for many years, but we had no idea he was such a grump before we met him. Nevertheless, we didn't let Mr. Gleick's temperament hinder us from discussing everything from Bertrand Russell's "liar's paradox" to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. (Link to show.) | Greetings from The Bat Segundo Show! Greetings from The Bat Segundo Show, the long-running cultural radio program, which you can listen to for free, devoted to thoughtful and comprehensive conversations with the cultural figures of our time. Not only have we reached our 400th installment, but we have four new programs an an in-depth roundtable discussion/forthcoming live event to tell you about! You can listen to the show at the main site or subscribe through iTunes. Dana Spiotta in Conversation Live! Dana Spiotta's dazzling Stone Arabia, a forthcoming novel concerning a down-and-out musician who makes obsessive art in lieu of connecting with others, so dazzled us that not only did we decide to hold a future five-part, week-long symposium (beginning on July 11th) at our sister site, Reluctant Habits, but Ms. Spiotta will be in conversation with Our Correspondent at McNally Jackson (52 Prince Street, New York, NY) on July 20, 2011 at 7:00 PM. If you liked Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, you won't want to miss this. 400 shows over six years? How did it happen? We're not entirely sure, but some have speculated that cultlike rituals were employed. But however unclean our hands may (or may not) be, we're still quite honored that Aimee Bender returned to our program to discuss The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Subjects include Edward Hopper, Bender's experiences with chairs, older men on the make for soup, and what it takes to sit still for two hours. Plastics, Population Control, Information History, and Scientology "Platics" was a word that rightfully terrified Dustin Hoffman, but our 8,000 word conversation with Susan Freinkel reveals more than a mere catchphrase. In other developments, there may be too many men on our planet. Some welcome this development; some don't. We talk with Unnatural Selection author Mara Hvistendahl to get the lowdown. Journalist Janet Reitman spent five years investigating Scientology, and we spent one jam-packed hour discussing it with her. And while James Gleick may be one of the grumpiest people we've ever had on the show, he still has quite a lot to say about Claude Shannon and the history of information. You can keep scratching your head over these strange topics or you can go to the main Bat Segundo site and listen to our free programs for intriguing elaborations! If you wish to subscribe to the show with a podcatcher program (for later transfer to your iPod), copy and paste the following URL into your program: http://feeds.feedburner.com/segundo You can also subscribe to the show through iTunes. These conversations will put a smile on your face, tickle your funny bone, and may just challenge you. Thanks again for listening! The Bat Segundo Show www.batsegundo.com |
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iraq
mcclatchy newspapers
laith hammoudi
the telegraph of london
rob crilly
aswat al-iraq
hurriyet
the new york times
yasir ghazi
tim arango
the associated press
sinan salaheddin
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