The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Sue O'Connell. This is Kelly Crossley Show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on this week's news from the great lady's front pages to the stories on the small screen and the reporting that went under the radar. We're going to look at the news that was and was it. We'll be dropping in on our community and alternative presses for a look at the big stories from the small papers where today's neighborhood news becomes tomorrow's mainstream headlines. We'll top off the hour venturing from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with the rag time around up on this week's pop culture. Up next from gumshoe reporting to gossip rags. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Janine Herbst. The nation's jobless rate declined last

month. The Labor Department says unemployment dipped to 9.1 percent. As the U.S. economy added more jobs than analysts had been forecasting. NPR's Dave Mattingly says economists though remain cautious here sell economist Hugh Johnson of Hugh Johnson advisors sees the July job gains jobs created. One hundred seventeen thousand better than expected. Not a great number but a good number that should be good news for a market that needs a lot of good news. Economist Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial agrees. It's still not enough to make everyone feel good but it. Much better than the alternative which is a double dip recession. Jobs were added in manufacturing construction and retail and the Labor Department revised upward the nation's job gains for May and June. Dave Mattingly NPR News Washington. Meanwhile the president is hailing those numbers cautiously citing the country's still wobbly economy. He still says we still need more jobs. We need to create a self-sustaining cycle where people are spending and companies

are hiring and our economy is growing. And we know that will take some time. Mr. Obama was speaking at the Washington Navy Yard this morning unveiling a tax credit plan to help the country's unemployed military veterans find jobs furloughed FAA employees will be back at work Monday following Senate approval of a bill authorizing the agency to operate through mid September. NPR's Brian Naylor reports the measure ends a nearly two week long partial shutdown. The Senate by unanimous consent accepted the House passed a bill that will keep the FAA operating until September 16th giving lawmakers more time to resolve their differences over a long term authorization measure. The temporary bill means some 4000 furloughed FAA employees can return to work. Some 70000 idled workers at airport construction projects nationwide will also be back on the job. The shutdown cost the government some 400 million dollars in lost revenue from uncollected airline ticket taxes. The measure contains a provision

rolling back subsidies for flights to small regional airports. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is expected to use his authority to waive those cutbacks. Brian Naylor NPR News Washington. Security forces in Syria opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters who had poured into the streets chanting for the fall of President Bashar al Assad. Activists say at least 10 people were killed. The six day old assault on the city of Hama seemed to do little to stop people from protesting. But the crowds were a bit lower. This is the first Friday of the month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from sun up to sun down on Wall Street today a bit of a see saw the Dow opening up more than 100 points a couple hours later it was down more than 100 points were back to positive territory right now the Dow is up 104 points at eleven thousand four ninety three. The Nasdaq is down 3 the S&P 500 down 8. This is NPR. The Postal Service continues to lose money posting a three point one billion dollar loss for the April to June period. That brings total losses to 5.7 billion dollars and the

agency could be forced to default on payments due to the federal government in September. The post office has seen mounting losses over the last few years as people switch to e-mail and online bill payment NASA's Juno probe a Juno program there is now in orbit around the earth after a successful launch from Cape Canaveral Florida shortly after noon local time. NPR's Joe Palca reports that sometime in the next half hour it is set to change course and head to Jupiter. Scientists are interested in Jupiter because they think it was the first planet to form in our solar system. Understanding Jupiter is composition will provide the ingredients list of the recipe for making planets. Juno is a solar powered spacecraft when it arrives at Jupiter it will go into an orbit that takes it over the poles the first probe to do that. It will come extraordinarily close to the giant planet only three thousand miles above the cloud tops. Juno has scientific instruments that will measure Jupiter's magnetic field and the aurora of charged particles at the planet. It also has Juno cam a color camera that will

take pictures largely for educational use. Joe Palca NPR News Washington. Fannie Mae the government controlled mortgage company says its second quarter loss widened as it continues to seek loan modifications to help reduce defaults in the housing slump. And it got nearly 100 billion dollars from the Treasury to stay afloat. Now it says it will ask for five point one billion dollars from the treasury through the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Crude oil prices are dropping down nearly 2 percent. Oil is down a dollar seventy to eighty four dollars 93 cents a barrel in New York. This is NPR. Support for NPR comes from IBM working to help mid-sized businesses become the engines of a Smarter Planet. Learn more at IBM dot com slash engines. Good afternoon I'm Sue O'Connell in for Cali cross Lee and this is the Kelly Crossley Show today of course we're taking a hyper local look at the week's news with Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and

Manola shallow tin. How was that. That's pretty close. OK. Are charlatan as we call are here around the camp. Boston she of course is the editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian REPORTER Welcome back to both of you. Glad to be here. You know Peter you've got the monkey issue out at the Boston Phoenix and it's both both I know and I have just completely been mentally ill and I have been completely focused on the monkey issue. And I want to talk about it mostly because it also speaks a bit about that moment in time on September 11th when things changed and for those who might be too young to remember what the difference was this is a sort of light hearted look at things that were just normal and were going to happen and then didn't at all and first of all I want to know if if David Bernstein who writes the story whatever happened to Danville giant mystery monkey was his idea to do this story. Yeah it

was. Listeners of a certain vintage one may suspect that David was smoking. But the M appeals Yes. Yeah but I can set a stage for us what was happening. Well this is 11 years ago week or two before 9/11 and the New England Well newspapers in New Hampshire little weeklies were full of stories about a monkey terrorizing the neighborhoods and with each passing story the monkey got bigger. And bigger. Then it made it to local TV and we know how conservative and restrained most local TV is and it was like a giant ape and this story of a giant ape stalking a New Hampshire town. I was going to be on the Today show as a matter of fact they gave the promo and said you know and when we come back from this break we've got a story about a giant ape

stalking and the Hampshire town. And unfortunately the next thing that happened was was 9/11 the attacks on was our attacks on the Twin Towers. That's a true story. Hundred percent and just fully and rightfully so. The monkey took a backseat. But here you are doing what the Phoenix does best digging back in to find out what happened to the Danville mystery giant monkey. We happen to be we go where no journalists have dared go on Bush should go or should go and even that I think David has been up you know he's lost sleep over these He's wanted what ever happened to the DMV giant monkey. Well he had his opportunity. He goes up there and he finds out well the monkey wasn't very giant at all he was about 2 feet tall. And the few people in the town away actually saw aro. Said he was a lovable furry little thing but in a way the

saddest part of the story is the monkey just disappeared off and everyone just figures he went to the forest and died you know. In our bedtime story. That's probably because he didn't make it on the today. Yeah that would have been it he probably would had a movie deal you know for those of us old enough to remember there were always the stories of the monkeys or the Leprechauns in the Boston Garden that were thought to be protecting the Celtics. And lo and behold when the old garden was taken down it seems that a few of the monkeys had escaped from the circus is over the years and were living happily along in productive lives in productive maybe not but enjoying a ringside seat better than they would have on the circus so thank you Peter. That was the Boston City Council I thought who too soon too soon. Well from the cuckoo to the important serious middle you know we just one. If we're going to want to stop warring and learn to love their own monkey overlords Yes this is the issue.

Yeah check it out check it out. You know you over in Haiti we continue to have great coverage from your newspaper as usual but there's there are sort of political actions and governmental actions that are seem to be just flying in the face of what a recovery what recovery needs to happen in one of the stories that you cover. Is a is about the eviction. The government is doing to the survivors of the earthquake refugees within Haiti if you will who are being evicted from places but have no place to go. Yes this is become the norm in parts of Port au Prince where the mayor has sort of an open mandate from the president. President Michel Martelly to basically remove these people and put them elsewhere. I'm going to use the term elsewhere because right now where they're being relocated so it's not an actual sort of relocation settlement. You know they're not preparing these places for your vegies to go it's sort of well

pay you 50 bucks maybe you know 50 in 250 dollars for you to move your family you know employ or someplace else. And so as it's becoming the norm the reports from Haiti have been up a lot about the officials the international officials the new. Let the president's inability to actually have create a government he hasn't flatly his last two prime minister nominees have been voted down. And so that's been sort of that this story in and of course there are hundred thousand people who are poor sort of survivors who are still living in these this place tent camps. But the stories we're hearing from the actual survivors themselves we're not hearing about what it actually means to be beaten out of a tent. You can live in another tent on our cover as you will see is a man who was severely beaten because he was resisting the attempt to be moved had nowhere else to go and part of the thread through the story is also the distrust of the

government you know I recall when the hurricane season began last year. And moving some folks from places where they were fear people feared that they were right in the line of the hurricanes. People didn't want to leave because they weren't sure what was going to happen to them and this case it's justifiable it's because I've been in the prior case as well. Exactly. There are there is there is no coordinated relocation plan internally for the hundreds of thousands internally displaced. That's the fundamental issue. But the government still needs to remove the rubble in Port au Prince in the capital. And so it's this sort of lack of planning on the government's part and of course lack of distrust because of the government inadequacies and of course these people are seeing you know millions of dollars being poured in there seeing aid workers driving Land Rovers they're seeing you know there's a lot of American aid workers there you know going to the hot spots and villages you know in a nice suburb of Port au Prince so if you if you're trying to space personnel means you're probably living in

poverty before the earthquake and so your rights weren't respected then widely respected now and so. So the report as we will continue to report are the stories are not being told. On a regular basis about Haiti and Peter this this doesn't sound so far away from what was happening around America's rebuilding of continuing rebuilding after after Katrina. You know the you know relocating people without really knowing where they're going without a plan and again asking people to leave a home or leave an area or in this case a case leave a tent which has become their home. Well in the wall and it was a smaller but very real problem because so many people didn't own their homes. In Haiti it's a much larger problem because very few there were very few homeowners in Haiti. And so when the hurricane hit all of those displaced people had their rent the places they were

paying rent to destroyed. So in a way this is a very. Brutal way for Haiti this is faced with not just a displaced person problem but its true homelessness problem. You know they don't even have they don't the people don't even own the land. They can pitch the attention on. So it's particularly acute. We're speaking with Peter Katz is from The Boston Phoenix and no you know charlatan of the Boston Haitian reporter. I want to talk a little bit about the loss that we had in the Boston community specifically in the south and community. Peter A friend of your family's and a friend certainly to almost every kid who came up in the South than Paul Ryan Kulis who is the head of the Little League in the south then passed away this week after an illness which he had had for several years but had not disclosed to people and people were quite shocked by Paul's death at age

53. Yeah I mean I grew up and taught Chester and I met Paul through my younger brother who actually met Paul when cool was when Paul was back from the Marine Corps driving a cab. My brother was bolting from the cab but he said a he has five bucks I like you. And they somehow became friends but I was stunned because I had no idea that Ron Kulis was was ill and it's hard to convey to people why the war than energy have again. Truly selfless guy was I mean his business was real estate and he was a real estate agent. He had been the type but his passion was the South and baseball. You could not have a conversation with Paul that didn't revolve around the south and youth baseball league and for years I thought he actually that was his job I didn't even know he had a real estate job. I don't think I ever had a personal conversation with him

about what he did enough or not asking him he just that was not what drove him and the other amazing thing about Paul is he was a real past. I mean he was he would call our office over at the South End news. And if he didn't get one person he would just ring through every single desk until he got someone and then ask you for something. And he was likable it wasn't you know it wasn't that you want talk to him because it wasn't an enjoyable conversation. But it was just that you knew he was going to grab you and he so knew the power that a team sport can bring it wasn't it didn't solve everything. Not every kid who played in Southend youth baseball went on to be a Red Sox Sox player although one one or two did. Some of them didn't end up you know not going to jail some of them did but he believed in this immunity and this is you know this is emblematic of the kind of person that just gives to community that I think all of our communities wish we had more of. Yes and you've seen I think. I'm hoping that with this loss we're really thinking

more about what team sport means to a more urban city where we do have such huge welcome gaps and why it's important to find real common ground to bring these youth around different people. I think the South and baseball league did that and it was created for that and so he was the bearer of their mission. You know he was he really embodied why they exist to begin with and so I think the reason why I think he could be passed as you say could be he could be very little you know he was it was you know he could use a designation. Yes that's a good word from the sports bar I mean he got to know the Dropkick Murphys. He did know them he said look he just went up to him in the club and said here's what I do with the club you know you should help us and they did and they Louis Louis Dionne who was who was the whole family was at every brunch hammer sleeze would throw a brunch for South and youth baseball Jim Rice.

I mean the list goes on and on of notables and powerful people who Paul Ryan coolest was able to get to support. Baseball and to a very important point you know that you bring up you know we in the suburbs I take for granted that I can choose for my daughter whether she wants to play soccer all across or baseball or softball or basketball. And those opportunities still do not exist at the Greve that they should for youth in the city we're going to take a quick break. When we come back we're going to continue our hyper local look at the week's news with Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and the Noli a charlatan editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian reporter. We'll be back after this break you're listening to the Kelly Crossley Show on WGBH. Support comes from you.

And from the Museum of Science and their newest IMAX film Tornado Alley now showing in the theater. The Museum of Science is proud to support the Nova Radio minute weekday mornings here on eighty nine point seven WGBH and from National Geographic. Encouraging you to explore the Boston Harbor Islands. You can plan your escape today with their new richly detailed map available at fine outdoor retailers Marine suppliers and independent booksellers throughout Metro Boston. Now here we're going to make a law judgment here. Recalculating the adjustment is that we're giving Terry Gross Fridays off the rest of the summer. Really. So we can make room for Public Radio's hottest show Radiolab. What does that mean. It means Fridays it to. You can catch the newest topics tackled by the Radiolab duo of Jad album rad awesome. And Robert Krulwich what I said.

It's a Radio Lab this afternoon at 2:00 here on eighty nine point seven. WGBH. Log on to WGBH dot org and you can enter to win a family retreat to the beautiful star island retreat center. The island you can visit without a passport. Your trip includes a free nights stay and meals for four. Roundtrip ferry transportation from Portsmouth. And the chance to leave the world behind without leaving New England home for a day. Spend a week. Remember for a lifetime. Register online at WGBH dot org. The informal friendliness of Celtic music. Join me Brian O'Donovan every Saturday at 3 for a Celtic sojourn here on eighty nine point seven WGBH. SEE McConnell in for Kelly Crossley This is the Kelly Crossley Show if you're just tuning in we're looking at news through hyper local lens. Joining me to talk between the

headlines are Peter Katz of the Boston Phoenix and when Olivia charlatan of the Boston Haitian reporter. Welcome back to both of you. So Peter a story that both big windows and the Boston Phoenix covered is the the health situation in the fund raising for local performer allies the Shapiro allies for many has become sort of the embodiment of the queer community artistic community in vastu and she of course is the person behind the tranny rec cabaret. She does truth serum productions and has a drag king persona. Heywood Wakefield who is a BIG us around all queer actions around the city of Boston. She suffered a brain hemorrhage last week. Yeah. The community has. By the community I mean not only the gay and lesbian and transgender community but also the the I've seen has responded in of a very big way. There

is a Facebook page. And yeah according to wash story the last time we checked to the braised about $13000 theory rather rhetorically speaking overnight. Yeah. And of course as a mother sed. Not that activists on their own for their great insurance policies. She's really somewhat high and dry and could really use as much help as a she could receive because coming back from something like this is a multi-month endeavor. And she's definitely the type of person know it. The last time I saw our allies she was at the Angel memorial Animal Hospital in Jamaica Plain where she had like a bucket of cats kittens that she had found and was bringing them in for treatment and just someone who was always giving and always working and donating our time. Again a challenge to a community to give back to someone who has given so much.

And as it were we were talking earlier before the show we talked about how our political discourse does not match who we are as a people as American people and I think the way that the community is responding to allies and giving giving back to her and that way I mean they've already raised $13000 sure's more since the story ran. I think it's key for us to understand what kind of city. That advocates like that actually help foster help endeavor and to a community that you know we have a pretty wide population of LGBT community here in Boston but I think folks like ally's really remind you of what it takes to actually make sure that everyone feels respected included and supported as they come into this city and to the Paul wrinkles conversation we had earlier unfortunately and it's just the way we're built you know something happens. Paul passes away allies or has a medical crisis and suddenly you realize how valuable they are to the arts community. And to that point you have a story this week in the Boston

Haitian reporter about the diet groups that are launching a listening tour and again you know so much of Haiti is sometimes bad news or or or crisis but there is such a wealthy. Artistry to hate to hate. You know I remember the film director Jonathan Deming who worked really hard in the early 90s to bring music and he worked on an album called Corbett to bring some great Haitian music to America. And this is an opportunity to keep moving forward and keep talking about the artistic community. Well I think I think one key thing as you can see we featured we featured a local Haitian pole is going to compete in a National Poetry Slam. The one key thing about the national listening tour is the diaspora realize that they need to have a long term partnership with folks who live in Haiti and as U.S. citizens we need to be lobbying advocating. So we have better U.S. policy towards

Haiti. We can't do that if we don't go around the different different hubs going to Boston New York and Miami in here. What do groups think should be happening you know what's important in local communities and what and what should the priority be in terms of advocacy. So I think this is sort of we're following the footsteps of other immigrants who have come come to the United States and have to find their voice on whether it's Beacon Hill or Capitol Hills I think is really really important but as you know we do make sure we tell stories about you know great volunteers who are doing good work. Artists who are continuing to put to push the culture forward. We lost a great and he who is a well-known musician won several internationally acclaimed awards for his for his work with with Haitian roots music passed away two weeks ago and was and was given a national a state funeral. And so we featured that in here and are an arts music session too so I think it's really important for us to

realize that a community is has many different facets to it. You have a New York born Haitian American who moved to New Hampshire who is no representing Poetry Slam which is great. You mention him in just a minute ago. Yeah Boston is home to the national Portuguese slam actually next week starts on August 9th then we have our one of our own locals. Mays actually representing the Boston team so we're excited we think we're going to bring home the title this year so we wanted to make sure that we featured I mean as as I dabble Porgie myself so I'm very excited about this particular story. Again it features this sort of cultural side. This is a city and as a people. Kelly did a show yesterday on the poetry slam so if you want to visit the interview download the podcast over w h dot or you can take a listen Peter. What I was saying I went on the Internet looked up some of the young man's work on youtube and

very impressed with it but I was struck with how serious in tone it's been a couple of years since I've seen the poetry slam or been to a performance like that. And this was much less rock n roll. Very energetic. But but very serious I mean the one piece the grief that begins you know when they shot the first piece of eye and then to your wrist reference to the crucifixion and the. Very serious sometimes even religious themes. I found it very interesting. Yeah and I think some of these some of the youth that are participating in these in these poetry slams around the country are are finding their voice is a generation I really think that they're they're tackling what they consider really serious personal issues or issues that they thought their their peers are dealing with. And when he talks about what he doesn't do Haitian pieces often when he does do it he takes it very serious because he feels like he's portraying his cultural heritage

I think many of these youth feel this way and so that's one of the reasons why you know we definitely supportive of these sort of local arts initiatives. Peter The Boston Phoenix this week you're editorial part of it is the debt crisis is only on hold and I think you know there's so much to talk about. It's a bit shocking in some ways how absolutely ridiculous things that are happening in Washington are I mean I was listening to a commentator earlier this morning talk about how Reagan was really able. Ronald Reagan was able to really bring positivity and let's go get him this to America by racking up a credit card that we now all have to pay and everybody is acting like they don't know how it happened yet anyone who pays any attention to their family budget knows how it happens and you know you really say and you use a great image in the story of kids on a rollercoaster this is no way near being over.

Well it's I had really no idea. We wrote that we published this editorial hopefully there to sort of remind people figuring it would quiet down. Well it hasn't. I mean this crisis is going to bubble up the full cauldron around Thanksgiving. That's a world that explode before that. It's very interesting though. In the latest polls many of the liberal commentators have been saying they thought oh Obama's Democratic base would be very angry with him as well as it turns out Obama granted his approval ratings down to 41 percent. But that's higher than Congress which is at in the historical low. Eighty two percent of those polled think that Congress is. These weren't the words they used but I think the sentiment is a bunch of bombs. Yeah and the Republicans feel that very poorly in Obama or All Things Considered for all the compromises and the

shifting of the tough things he's had to do. Still enjoys very strong support among his base. By the way I think part of that is because he's in the credibly likable guy. But one thing that in the aftermath of this crisis is coming out of this that the American people are more economically literate than their representatives in Washington are. Yeah you know I mean I know you have a lot to say about this it's stunning. I mean. What bothers me is that our political discourse in the way was played out today with this debt limit crisis does not reflect where the American people are. And that's why they're very unhappy with Congress. You can't go to Congress to say we're not going to compromise that's not why you were elected. I think the Tea Party friends within the Republican Party thinks that that's why they were elected to go and say no which doesn't really resolve or solve anything. There go I think that this

election they're going to see some indications of that I think we're going to see change elections over the next well the next you know four to six years I think on a regular basis until until the people can see you know what we want our elected to represent us and to actually govern steadily without without this ridiculous emotion or. What I call stuck in ideology. You know we can't live in ideology so we can't govern ideology either. What I liked a lot about the Phoenix editorial is that it really put a stamp on. What does this kind of politics mean long term and that the crisis is not over. You know we've seen this before with the housing bubble we saw a couple different times where we think we passed overhaul. I think as a as a people we need to be much more involved and pay attention to the politics and voting some folks out if we need to. Peter one of the. Senator John Kerry was on The Morning Joe Show this morning and

I've heard him quoted throughout the day saying that the media bear some responsibility on how. Washington is being covered right now and he said that you know there's not always an equal amount of time that should be given to both sides sometimes one side is right and one side is wrong and and it echoes something that from the gay community we thought a lot about when it comes to same sex marriage and we have often you know dug back into our civil rights history. You know when when you give someone like a Brian Camac or from Mass Resistance who was vehemently anti-gay and says terrible things equal time with say Mary but not oh from the gay and lesbian advocates and defenders who is fighting for a civil right. It makes it seem like there's an equal two sides to the argument when one might just be morally wrong. Does Carrie have a point about about how we keep giving the Tea Partiers this this this platform or even with the FAA shutdown which completely enraged me about how much we lost as a government

in taxes that went into the airlines pockets over. You know we lost like 350 million over a 250 million subsidy to rural people. You know I mean some of the Kerry has a very good point. This malarkey that Republicans mouth all the time that you know raising taxes is going to cut jobs. The Bush tax cuts have been in effect for how many years I mean you know 680 is something. Where are the jobs. It's it's last I think the equal time in more the examined assumptions that go by I mean that's like allowing people to say the earth is flat you know and by the same token I think that applies to the Democrats as well. I mean even though Social Security is not is lumped in

here it is not really part of this debt crisis. Any rational human being and certainly every economist knows that the retirement age the age in which you can start drawing your benefits is going to have to raise. Ask a Democrat about that. They won't touch that with a ten foot pole. Really do you think that that this this rage that voters and residents feel toward the government now I mean I don't want to have a government that's that I'm smarter that you know I want to I want to look to people who are going to think about things and solve problems. Is this going to engage people to vote in the same way. You know I'm speaking I'm thinking specifically of minority communities and urban communities that came out to vote for Barack Obama. And then in some ways disappeared. Is this connect to people in a way that listen I run my home budget. I know more than my senator does. While I think pretty good for music color the challenges that remain one of the challenges that remains is not necessarily and apathy but more of

what actually can I do they care. You talk to anybody you go to a barber shop or a beauty salon they do care but it's the from caring to what I can actually do I think is a challenge because a lot of political campaigns don't go to those communities early. They don't they don't organize those committees early so they come to them and say oh good black candidate so you should be voting. They come through the months before the primary and expect me to come vote. I think the respect needs to be there. But to your to your larger point about the kind of government we have unfortunately our democracy. So that means we elected these people so we don't like them. We have to like them out now. That's a tall order I think for the left the left in this country or maybe even even the center to say well wait a minute wait a minute these Tea Party right wing folks came into office. They didn't just appear there they were voted in and therefore we need to vote people in who have our values although at least will be willing to compromise. So in the words of Michael Jackson I'm starting with the man in the mirror.

Leave it to the press thing now. Thank you very much we're talking local news with Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and Minola charlatan editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian reporter thanks to both of you. Coming up we're taking a turn from the serious to the sublime and the ridiculous with a tour of this week's tabloids You're listening to the Kelly Crossley Show. We'll be back after this break stay tune to eighty nine point seven WGBH. Support for WGBH comes from you and from Elsa Dorfman

Cambridge portrait photographer. Still clicking with the jumble format Polaroid 20 by 24 analog camera and original Polaroid film online at Elsa Dorfman dot com and from the Block Island ferry you can sail away to Block Island where you can enjoy sand surf and shopping in natural New England beauty high speed and traditional ferries leave daily from Point Judith Rhode Island. More info on line at Block Island Ferry dot com. Next time on the world some Tea Party supporters want to cut back the military and keep foreign aid at home. Third there for the world. We cannot about trying to help out other countries before we have our own back yard work trimming our overseas commitments Tea Party style. Next time on the world. Coming up at 3 o'clock

here at eighty nine point seven WGBH. The end of the month also marks the end of the fiscal year for WGBH. That means August 30 first as eighty nine point seven is legal deadline to balance all of the necessary budgets to insure another great year of radio will help make ends meet by starting a renewing your WGBH membership with a gift in any amount. 8 8 8 8 9 7 9 4 2 4. Or make your secure gift online at WGBH dot org. And thanks. I'm Bob Garfield. Now you can join me and Brook led St.. Or on the media twice each weekend. We're still on a real clock on a Sunday afternoon. But now you can also hear us 6:00 a.m. on Saturday. It's right here. Maybe 9.7 WGBH. It's rag time of view of the week's pop culture happenings it's an examination of the salacious the ridiculous and everything in between. But this being public

radio dolling will conduct our review with the help of some highbrow analysts are pointy headed boss of pop culture Rachel Ruben is the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston and Dr. Michael Rodriguez is a full time lecturer in the C.S. writing program at Boston University Welcome to both of you. Thank you too. Hey Rachel how are ya. Good thanks. GOOD GOOD Well big news came out this week which made me very excited because I am a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan. His new movie was released from the vaults from 1900 23. It was called the white show it is called The White Shadow. And Hitchcock was 24 years old when it was made and was listed as a writer assistant director editor and art director. Is this as big as I hope it is. Rachel it's but it's you know it. Pretty big this is the second movie for which Hitchcock you know received credit as writer an assistant director the first one is also lost. So it'll be

a very interesting recovery. You know one thing that's very striking about it is that the movie which is an early you know more of representation of the evil twin twin sisters. One is a good one is evil and how can you tell the difference sort of right in the middle of the popularity of Freud both in the United States and in England. And so you know movies that started to deal with things like well what does it mean to have my college you know representing that historical moment. Yeah I going off of that. Rachel I've always thought was interesting that Hitchcock was born in 1899 the year that Freud's interpretation of dreams was first published. And it seems like that sort of pervades his entire canon. And it is that sort of that that archetype of the doppelganger of the double which I think you went on later to really beautifully depict in one of my favorite films by Hitchcock is Vertigo might change I think 58 and starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak in it I mean the movies are just so great I mean I was terrified as a child watching birds.

The right wing doesn't hold up. Well as well you know I saw it when I was five so it doesn't matter how good or bad it was it just absolutely terrified me and whenever I see birds on a you know a wire gathering I just think of that gas station scene and of course the rope was another one that I absolutely adore. We do do kids today. Do the kids today get the Hitchcock thing is he still of a viable source for creativity and terror. I think they do. You know I mean just anecdotally the kids in my daughter's school put up made a little movie last play of their own that was based on. I forget which one this is terrible but I mean I think I certainly want to do sort of reach them very well. I do too I think if you look at a film like Rear Window which really does hold up it's impossible to watch that and not be caught up in the psychological tension that of course he's so famous for building. Well James Earl Jones and Oprah Winfrey are together they're not going to be doing some On-Star listening but let's let's take a listen to some classic James Earl Jones.

We have one shortly before we become to discuss what you're. Showing. And I will complete your treaty with all combined strength. In this destructive conflict and bring order to the Galaxy. Oh yes James Earl Jones of course in one of his is most classic Darth Vader and James and Oprah Winfrey Oprah Joan traveled to Oprah Winfrey will be in the academy a motion picture sort of hall of fame the humanitarian award folks think Oh it's great that James is getting one but not so much with Oprah. Rachel it's Oprah all the time isn't it. Well it is Oprah all the time. And you know it's funny people say not so much Oprah because her involvement with the film industry as an actor is relatively light especially compared to somebody like James Earl Jones but of course this award is for you know humanitarian work on the part of somebody who was

involved in the film industry and she has done a lot of that. Now it's always funny to talk about money because that's what this is about. And so some of the critics of her getting the A-word thing well is just hoping that she will fly some of that humanitarian effort you know Ward Hollywood. I want to show you that they were exciting money I mean I've never done that award. I don't have any money. I know you shot my daughter I must admit that when I tell you shocked when I first heard of it I was skeptical as most people seem to be. But you know as I reflected on it she's not an insignificant force in the field of film. You know she did receive an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in that political purpose. She was in Toni Morrison's beloved she brought it to the screen as she did was the engine behind in Britain if that in fact yes and Harpo films which is the biggest arm of Harpo Productions is an ongoing sort of you know production I think people just love to hate Oprah and also love to hate the academy.

I mean you know more people I think there are a lot of them of Oprah but I mean it can be can never catch a break they have low ratings they bring you know tweedle dee and tweedle dum in last year to make it younger. And then now they do this and they get criticized it's like it's either it's a TV show or or the Oscars are an awards program or both. Well you know I think well I think we can agree that she's done great humanitarian work. You know her school in Africa is a great example of that. If you look at some of the past recipients someone like Paul Newman Audrey Hepburn. You know I'm trying to think of some others who were in that even the person for whom the Elizabeth Taylor was yeah exactly the person for whom the award is named was instrumental in creating a hospital for people in the industry who didn't have access to health insurance and health coverage. So you know whether or not she has done something for the industry itself up to that caliber is questionable.

Well it is a good Rachel. I just want to say one thing too we sort of dancing around it. You know I completely agree with Michael that you know what what she has done I mean just as she has done what the award is supposed to be for you know that the much of the language that people are using is not just about the attack to me you know criticizing it but that you know being horrified and saying oh my gosh this is about race. You know giving the award to Oprah and James the old villain is a kind of tokenism. Particularly you know the always interesting always somewhat incomprehensible Armond White human than it is making this pretty good for him keeps him in the news. All right so it was 30 years ago this week that I was a summer time it was. I was at Emerson College I was sitting by the pool and Tracy and Scott Cavill Bianco and I left the pool and went into their dad's bedroom where we had all the only TV that had cable and we turned to one of the few TV stations and saw what launched the MTV network and this of course is the first video that kicked it off.

Course that was pretty much the only hit that they had and was the one we made just for that Rachel. Thirty years ago MTV and now it's totally unrecognizable. It is that certainly it has completely changed but you know and I think that was an extremely humble beginning I have to say I'm glad they didn't have another hit that video made. Yeah but MTV has managed to transform our culture. Now you know the music video would now it you know it is of course everywhere. And by the way looking at those videos and people you just sort of reinforces how white MTV was you know on for quite some time. Right well at Boston dot com has a slideshow up of it and the other thing I mean one of the reasons I was actually you know about to enter into the radio and record business at this time that it just no one really thought about making you know you had Don Kirshner's Rock concert and you had Dick Clark in videos just were not you know in the in the mix so

much they had very few videos to play for anyone and Michael one of the favorite things I love about MTV is that the whole opening montage and logo was all to the moon and the flag was in the public domain like they didn't have enough money to go ahead and make a logo so it really has changed. But for a long time they said no no our you know a core audience is not in bright and black music. And this is you know the height of disco. Oh and the beginning of rap and hip hop. I just wanted to say you know MTV going on again completely to transform our culture by introducing the first reality show. And now you know that's what's on television. That's true and you know the irony of that song the first song Video Killed the Radio Star is that it is sort of this lament for 1950s radio and you know sort of I've been a song ironically ushers in this whole new age of television you know production of these. But at the same time just like the Internet you know been around long enough to know that it didn't kill

radio you know and the internet didn't the movies didn't TV didn't kill movies and you know things evolve and just continue on but it is amazing to me that it's just a totally different network you know than than it was to begin with. And just to stay on the same topic here apparently Great Britain is an entirely different country than the United States of America. And one of the ways that we learned that this week was through Jon Stewart the prime minister was to be kept in the dark. I'll raise you with a stream of stuff I'm still waiting for a clone to see come out smelling rockets when he has one in his midst. Thank goodness all. Of you watch your show. Jon Stewart of course talking about the scandal in Great Britain and Great Britain has a law in place that says if you take footage of parliamentary proceedings it would use them in a comic or satirical way.

It's illegal and that's not a legal have to cut you off I go ahead tell me I'm absolutely not a lot I mean it's a silly convention but convention that is different. But TVs have made when they started to film you know parliamentary protests would have made this agreement. But that's not as funny though right. Well I thought I did but I did not. You know we have TV cameras go don't go through right now in a court room. That's not a lot I think. I was under the impression that it was a law from from the House of Commons. And that you know the idea that they want to promote this so-called integrity of the politicians you know riot and not allowing out. Is it still a law that you can't use the trademarked words in songs you know like Kodachrome was was cut out of Kodachrome and American Express was cut out of Tina Turner. I know if you make a reference to Barbie Mattel will come for you. Well yeah that's fascinating. Well luckily Great Britain remains its own country. And they speak a language that we're familiar with but not so much so.

We'll leave it up to Jon Stewart to sort that what he deconstructed it pretty well I think on the show it showed you know the hypocrisy of that kind of law or convention or whatever it may be. But the idea that you know the House of Commons which is a democratically elected body as opposed to the House of Lords which is this you know appointed body the the idea that the you know you can't show proceedings in a satirical context is so absurd. You know it sort of flies in the face of the whole spirit of democracy and transparency. You're listening to the Kelly Crossley Show here on WGBH Well the thing that I'm going to be watching the most closely something that was was launched this week or announced this week is that cosmopolitan probably the dirtiest magazine in the grocery aisle check out as far as I'm concerned has announced that they now have an app for men for the Cosmo boy if you will who they say is in his mid 20s and is truly evolved ready to accept information that the app gives because he's already discovered that he likes

pleasing women because he knows that it makes the relationship stronger. He's figured out what to do that a satisfied woman is a happy woman. And Cosmo for guys is going to help him along Rachel. Women have finally arrived. I mean you know what I'm thinking in my more cynical turn is men have been incorporated more and more into certain you know industries and consumer habits like cosmetics for instance and that you know having this kind of Analog magazine now works but the you know the interesting thing about it is it is an i-Pad only magazine really cuz the only way of thinking is that men would be too embarrassed to be buying it in the store. Technology makes it more manly. You know there is this sort of I don't know if it's true really but this conventional wisdom floating around that women you can do all the knocks but men use the i-Pad. So you know it's interesting because when. Policy became a women's magazine. It's sort of natural sexual explicitness for women. You know it did sort of make that I don't know that make that it then make that

change. But but but. But what they're going to be for men this much later and you know with this sort of double standard of you know that has historically operated where men have been allowed to be seen as sexual. Well in the field research I've been doing Rachael I can tell you that I think that women know more about what pleases them than men do at this point. Michael do you think it's been hard work. It really has and someone's had to do it. Thank you thank you. You're welcome you're welcome Michael do you think that this is something men are going to read in the privacy of their their i pad. I don't think so. I don't think so. I mean I myself I'm not a big fan of pop psychology. You know I can't imagine that there can be many men sitting around taking those quizzes you know who I think they really do I mean you know I think they do I think if you go to like a barbershop or you know full service salon for men and women and there's a pause No no one's watching. But they do the quiz the one I think it's cause we talked about if not pop like Ali. Right exactly. Oh no I wouldn't call that pop psychology call I'd call that hardcore

psycho you know psycho drama. So no. So so Cosmo for boys I keep saying boy you know not the least not for you or me. I'm 35 and I can't imagine turning to it for relationship advice but you would be great. Why don't you tell us exactly that as we well know. Good thing I can get it on there. All right so another as time marches on moment Metallica has turned 30. QUESTION Hello whiplash there doing the hair we have our little headbanging here whip. Can it be Rachel that Metallica is celebrating their 30th anniversary they formed in 1981 they've sold 50 million records they're performing in San Francisco in December. Unbelievable. Yes it's unbelievable and they're celebrating their 30th anniversary by charging for their tickets what they charge in 1981.

I think it's our pick for members of their fan site. You know and I think it's 45 or 55 years to join their actual fan club. And they're only offering the $6 tickets to their fan club. So there's a it's not quite as generous as it seems initially but it's still coming out you know and it still comes out to be a lot less because. You know if you think about what to expect what the 1980 did not like the eighty dollars that a lot of stuff that's it would be interesting. You know Michael we're at a point in pop culture I was at my daughter's camp for Dance Day and I watched a five year old and a grandmother and everyone in between singing the words to a Black Eyed Peas song. I mean pop culture doesn't evolve and get disposed as quickly in some ways as it used to so you could actually go to a Metallica show with your kids and both enjoy the same music I don't know if there's been a moment like this since row row your boat came out. EVERYONE IS LOVE THE SAME us through it I've always been very surprised at how commercially successful Metallica always was it's if you look at their music it's a really hardcore

harsh you know often dealing with really difficult subjects like you know the war World War One for instance I was watching again their video one which is based on a 1948 novel that was made into a movie 971 about World War 1 and you know how do you deal with some extraordinary topics of you know shell shock and so forth and so it's amazing to think that how far they were happy birthday metalic and Hammerstein very well. Read write out another edition of ragtime a review of this week's pop culture news Professor Rachel Rubin Dr. Michael Rodriguez thank you so much for joining us. You're welcome. You can keep on top of the Kelly Crossley Show at WGBH dot org slash Kelly Crossley follow us on Twitter or become a fan of the Kelly Crossley Show on Facebook. Thanks so much for listening today I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley. Kelly will be back on Monday. Kelly Crossley Show is a production of WGBH radio Have a great weekend.