* Here’s Where to Hear a Radio Commentary by Me (Newly Broadcast by my Local NPR Station)
This Friday, a commentary by me was broadcast on my local NPR station. Some of the main ideas in it will be familiar to long-time readers of NSB, but this concise rendering of them –and one of the ideas– is new.
To give you an idea of the topic, I will simply quote here the first (rather long!) sentence:
Have you ever wondered why people who are willing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year to protect the United States against any possible threat from an external enemy, nonetheless say we can’t afford to sacrifice much of anything to combat the threat of climate change that could make our world, and our country, less livable?
You can HEAR the commentary, just as it was broadcast over the radio, at this site:
July 28th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Did I miss the new idea or is this the first time, Andy, you’ve attempted to link the climate change issue and your “Warrior Ideal of Manhood” theme together? A timely opportunity and nicely played if this is the case.
I read the blog transcript in addition to first hearing it. The main idea of your commentary is perfectly described, imo, and you deliver it good. There was a single sentence that struck me as your central point. First sentence in the second to last paragraph I believe: “There is a different ancient image of what a man might be.” You then proceed to sum up your commentary very well, as I’ve mentioned. But that one sentence challenges the audience in a few ways. It challenges one to do more than just consider what exactly is this “ancient image.” It forces one to squarely analyze the alternatives or different images versus the “ancient.” How ancient is ancient? Is the Duke an ancient archetype in 2010? At any rate, those are my thoughts. An enjoyable commentary, Dr. Schmookler.
July 28th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Ftr, I’m not averse to John Wayne or what he represented. In this particular version of manhood, there’s likely been more good than bad. And on this point specifically I’m only raising the fact that we don’t get that kind of straight forward, black and white messaging throughout entertainment nowadays. Not that we don’t still yearn for something like it.
July 28th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Fabulous commentary! Everybody ought to hear it.