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I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley. This is the Kelly Crossley Show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on this week's news from the Gray 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 will be dropping in 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 mentoring from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with brag time around up this week's pop culture. Up next from gumshoe reporting to gossip Brad. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh the UN's top human rights official is condemning the violence security forces in Libya have used against

pro-democracy protesters Navi Pillay said in a statement today the police are displaying illegal and excessively heavy handed tactics to subdue the crowds. Meanwhile counter demonstrations continue the Libya TV broadcasts images of pro-government supporters in Tripoli cheering for their longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. But it is a different scene in the eastern city of Benghazi site of this week's pro-democracy protests and deadly clashes with police. The Associated Press cites a local judge saying that today marchers fought with security forces after a funeral for 15 people who were shot to death yesterday. Mourners reportedly torched police stations and government buildings. A large crowd has gathered in Cairo's main square to mark one week since Egyptians ousted President Hosni Mubarak. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro says people are gathered to also remind the country's military junta to deliver on promised reforms. A very different kind of. I mean there is the science people really are just

coming together. It's an air of celebration people are selling flags they're selling trinkets commemorating the revolution. But clearly if you speak to longtime activists there is a sense that much more needs to be done. A particular concern is the fact that the military is no longer meeting with the youth activists for example. Also Mohamed ElBaradei guy the Nobel laureate and senior opposition figure has also not met with the military at any point in the last week. Those are concerns that are being raised about where this is all headed. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro Republicans in the Wisconsin state senator asking Governor Scott Walker to order state police to go after Democratic leader Mark Miller. State Senate Democrats are boycotting a vote on a measure that would strip away collective bargaining rights for most public employees. But Wisconsin's Republican governor argues a proposal is necessary to tackle a projected 3.6 billion dollar budget deficit. Education is the focus of a presidential event in Oregon today.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reports the CEO of Intel will give President Obama tour of the company headquarters and the president will speak about education Intel has an education program called STEM science technology engineering and mathematics. It's designed to prepare kids for high tech jobs. And President Obama sees it as a model for America's economic future. Mr. Obama often talks about the need to invest in education even while cutting back in other areas. Today's host Intel CEO Paul Otellini has harshly criticized the Obama White House in the past saying quote This group does not understand what it takes to create jobs. The White House has lately been trying to rebuild relationships with the business community. Ari Shapiro NPR News the White House. The Dow's up 51. This is NPR News. A cemetery in south suburban Chicago is under scrutiny for what's been called appalling burial practices. Chicago Public Radio's Tony Arnold has details. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says Homewood Memorial Gardens has a

habit of burying caskets on top of each other sometimes eight at a time. He says he's also found instances of multiple babies being buried in the same casket. From a law enforcement standpoint we were disturbed from a human standpoint. We are absolutely appalled Dart says state law is so broad. Criminal charges probably won't be filed. Tom Flynn runs Homewood Memorial Gardens. He acknowledges his workers stacked caskets on top of each other but says that's what the county pays for in its contract. A statement from the county's medical examiner's office says it properly prepares infants for internment. For NPR News I'm Tony Arnold in Chicago. The Vatican is criticizing travel agents who ask Roman Catholics to pay a service fee for getting a spot at the beatification of the late Pope John Paul the second in a statement today the Holy See says no one needs a formal invitation or ticket to the May 1st event in St. Peter's Square. But the statement goes on to say there have been unauthorized offers on the Internet and elsewhere.

Rome is expecting as many as 2 million Roman Catholic faithful for the ceremony. There's word that at least eight people are seriously wounded from a hand grenade attack on anti-government protesters in Yemen. The opposition is calling today's massive anti-government demonstration quote Friday of rage. The Dow's up 50 to a 12000 371 with the Nasdaq up seven and twenty eight thirty nine. This is NPR News. Support for NPR comes from the Kauffman Foundation working to advance innovations in education and entrepreneurial success. Learn more at Kauffman dot org. Good afternoon I'm Sue O'Connell sitting in for a Cali cross Lee and this is the Cali cross we showed today were hitting the rewind button on the week's news. Joining me today are Peter Katz and Adam Gaffin. Peter is the executive editor of The Boston Phoenix.

And Adam Gaffin is the founder and editor of universal hub over at Universal dot com the hyper local news blog. Welcome back how are you. Great great thank you. Hey Adam I have to say just before we came on the air I had to post the photo of the toilet that was holding a space in Jamaica Plain that's up at Universal hub dot dot com. And not just any part of Jamaica Plain but yeah. Yes so we'll have to take Peter's going to drive by that on the wounded. Yeah before I join the people and move near Eggleston square I just want to say I love them a lot. It's right in front of you know it's a beautiful picture yes. So Peter we start off with some sad news to the journalism community here. We lost cliff Gar Bowden who died this week after a long battle with cancer and Cliff I think is one of those people who has touched so many journalists and so many readers but you know it's not a household name but without Cliff life in Boston would be very different. Yeah I mean

Cliff is a real important figure within the ranks of local Boston journalism. He was of course at the Boston Phoenix and many many roles many roles of many as he began the Boston University when the news was one of the most radical socially active and transformative newspapers in America. And like a lot of people at that time Cliff got into journalism hoping to change the world. Well he stayed in journalism. Instead became a professional and as a result of that helped change journalism itself. I mean he was a champion of advocacy journalism social justice journalism strong point of view journalism. He was also a very funny guy and very irreverent. His daughter Mallie who wrote a very touching remembrance of cliff on talked about how her father as her father

would teach of the Redan they had talked not only about the books but all the books the author wrote and all this but then then she switches gears and points out that her father could be a very controversial writer and that he once even received a death threat from a mine. Which is which is hard to do now your piece in The Boston Phoenix this week is a is a great capture of who Cliff is but also his writing about on the anniversary one of the anniversaries of the Phoenix which I think is some brilliant writing. You know Cliff wrote and I'm paraphrasing but basically we're not going to get rich but we are going to get into heaven we're not going to get rich we're going to go to have it which I love means everybody else is going to go to hell which I love most about the way that cliff communicates. Yeah the you know the inference that that that's where we're going. You know my own exchanges with Cliff are loaded with all sorts of fun. He once heard that someone said something very negative about him in a meeting and came up to me and asked if I was in the meeting and I said Yes I said it was awful and I said What did you say.

And I said nothing anyway. I was afraid of that. Locked away so it's He'll be missed Adam did you have the opportunity ever to cross paths with Cliff. Not directly I mean I was a faithful reader write hard thoughts which of course was the mainstay haunt thoughts was it looked like TV listings but you had to read really closely to see it was just a series of joke after joke after joke. I mean people should go to the Phoenix dot com and check out the many tributes from people we have some of his old hot dog columns up he was also a model US models are talking perhaps. And there's a portfolio of photographs my favorite thing of the past week and remembering cliff is that I wrote I was struggling with what to write on my Facebook update I wrote that Cliff had passed and corrected me and said I think he would have preferred died. But remember include our Bowden this week. You know a big breaking story happened

this week in the gay lesbian bisexual and transgender world. And it was a sort of something that's been working in the background for a long long time but then happened out of nowhere and yesterday Governor Patrick signed an executive order protecting transgender state employees from from discrimination. This of course is a set up as well for the awfully terribly named bathroom bill which has nothing to do with what the transgender rights bill is that we hope will go through through the legislative process. But this is a huge story in terms of Deval Patrick keeping a campaign promise doing something quickly. And there's certainly been some pro and con reaction to that. Adam if you had some time to take a look at the issue I haven't I mean it's another example I can feel proud to be from Massachusetts. But I just I have not. Right and Peter Yeah I mean I'm as you know from my

being on the show with you. I'm sort of well it's about time. You know I was caught as many people were unawares by it and I suspect that the reason this appears to have come out of the blue was the governor. I'm guessing on this folks I'm guessing the governor wanted to sign it get it out there so there'd be no so that the the right wing talk radio nutcases wouldn't be able to you know whip up a frenzy before it happens. To me it's just a pretty sensible thing to do in but you pointed out something important. He said he would do with his a campaign promise and he did it doesn't happen often. No it doesn't it doesn't and that alone is something to mark with that. And on the local level you know Peter there's. This great story that Gina Williamson has in this week's Boston Phoenix about how all the really hardcore local Not all but many of the hardcore local rockers in Boston have now

become Freemasons. And I have to say I had the pleasure of being in the freemason temple is that what it's called you know down in Provincetown which is hidden above the little knick knack shop in around the corner from the house and they had a Provincetown business guild meeting there a couple of years ago and we were allowed to come in and take a look at some of the great historic stuff and the process. And I so wanted to be a Freemason After that I can't be the last. But you know it's got great history and great things and there are rockers who have played in bands like slapshot crash and burn stamp black church. And they're Freemasons What does Eugena Williamson explore about the connection. Well first of all how the story came about is a great part of the story. She's from Chicago but she's lived here for a couple of years and she noticed the huge Masonic temple down on Tremont Street and she like rang the bell and said Hey can I look around I said Sure come on then. She said Oh this is the Masons and like a lot of people she thought it was just

a secret sinister Dan Brown you know the Masons are even more sinister than the Kremlin than the Vatican put together. And she met these really nice guys you know who were very upfront and open and she pitched cholic areally the story he says great and lo and behold find out that there were all these hardcore Alston rock n rollers who would become Masons and look a lot of this is the Masons do do a lot of good social work and all but it's also a way for guys just to dress up well dress up the costume. They didn't really we have the costumes I was a little bombed by that. Well it is a lot of great work it is a lot of great history you know you have many of the founding fathers who were involved Paul Revere I believe Ben Franklin George Washington Washington they built the Provincetown monument. And I think that there is also some connection between the craftsmanship thread that carries through the Freemasons that's also in music.

And I think sitting around smoking cigars and drinking beer it may be an important time. Yes because the reasons I wanted to join in. OK so they're still all male. Yeah yeah yeah. So it's another example of. I mean yeah you know I know I want to start my own. But it's good that they have is constitutionally protected as I think you know because. Write to us. But they sort of wear it lightly and I wonder if the wives might just as soon have the husbands drinking beer and smoking cigars as a visit on the cars to the husbands there are many gay masons only gay made them they are as happy because usually the gay Masons I know are very heavily into engineering. Still their spouses are happy to have them off with their friends. Same engine works everywhere you go. Hey Adam at Universal hub you gave some shout out to city councillor Pressley who's an at large city councillor and she did one of those things which shouldn't be newsworthy but is and she called

for comprehensive sex education program and the easier availability of condoms in the Boston schools this week. And she did so at a hearing. What were your thoughts and what were some of the reactions to covering this. Well my thought is I cannot believe that in 2011 that this is still an issue. You know I don't know what 20 30 years into the AIDS epidemic. A significant number of pregnant teenagers. Media rates are like 74 percent higher than they were 10 years ago and the Boston school system has no way of formal way of teaching these kids about the stuff and it was just good for everyone like me. You are your child's in the Boston public schools right. And you know that one of the four schools that does not have a health center so that not that. She's not in an age where she has to worry about the stuff. You know it would be nice for her to have a place to go where she felt for whatever reasons

uncomfortable coming to her parents I would hope she wouldn't but you know this is this kid's life we're talking about here and it's not that expensive thing and this is another good example of someone who is really walking the talk that they they gave out during the campaign season Ayanna Pressley had had campaigned on. I would say a reformer platform but definitely has a very active city council not just just meeting and approving the mayor's budget but also working within the communities that she represents which is all Boston. Yeah right. Twenty years ago a city council running on increasing sex education would have been considered a loon. Well I still think maybe that the 20th century is finally coming to Boston public schools. Well I was I was happy to see that no story about sex education is complete unless you hear from C.J. Doyle executive director of the Catholic Action League

said in your piece that condom distribution would violate the separation of church and state by forcing forcing Catholic students to disregard the teachings of their church and by forcing forcing emphasis mine. School nurses and taxpayers to do something they are morally opposed to. Now this here actually there actually any other members of the Catholic actually decides to teach everyone. I'm not sure but there might be three. No I'm actually not sure. There were there was there was also a Harvard physics student physicist student and there was a nurse from Northeastern who said that you know don't you know don't even let students know about condoms because they don't want to. And it's like oh my god. Yes I want to know about Harvard. But you know there are legitimate issues about parental can consent. Yeah and if you look at the health centers they have now kids can't even go to them unless their parents first sign off you know signing them up for these programs. But there's got to be ways

to teach kids or at least give them access to the tools they need to protect themselves. You know Adam in the world of the Internet it's amazing to me that you know this is even a conversation as if Catholic children or Catholic teenagers are busy online looking up things like we used to look them up in the dictionary. You know on National Geographic. Exactly Don't forget National Geographic we're going to take a quick break I'm soo O'Connell sitting in for Kelly Crossley looking at local news with Peter Kansas and Adam Gaffin will be right back after this break. Stay with us. Support for WGBH comes from you and from the New England mobile book fair

in Newton. For 54 years. New England's independent bookstore. The New England mobile book fair. Find them online at an e-book fair dot com. That's an e-book fair dot com. And from masterpiece on WGBH to. Any Human Heart is a moving tale of adventure romance and heartbreak. Don't miss any human heart on Masterpiece Classic Sunday night at 9:00 on WGBH too. On the next FRESH AIR we continue our series of interviews about films nominated for Oscars. We hear from Tom Hooper who directed The King's Speech which is nominated for 12 Oscars. And from James Franco who's nominated for his starring role in one hundred twenty seven hours and will be co-hosting the awards ceremonies joining us. This afternoon at two on eighty nine point seven.

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Joining me to talk between the headlines are Peter caddis executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and Adam Gaffin founder and editor of universal hub. The hyper local news blog. Gentlemen welcome back from the break. So of course it's almost spring time and we're still dealing with snow issues over at the South End news. We had a story by Kate Vander read about a woman who was trapped in her home. She was disabled elderly and low on food and she claims she she was relying on the mayor's hotline to get her shoveled out. And it still was not working out for her. Peter you and I were sort of talking during the break that. You know and Adam this is certainly been true on universal hub. The days when folks would just go shovel out people seem to be to be low especially in the city. I was horrified to see the number of fire hydrants that people bothered to stop and take a picture of an universal Hoben submit to you but didn't seem that it

was in any way their civic duty to shovel it. Yeah well if you if you notice a lot of those were in commercial areas for example in comics where one woman got a ticket because she the hydrant was completely covered. Oh that that I understand I understand the not knowing you were parking there but I just don't get you know in the world where we're complaining about too much government. And then you have a massive snow season unlike anything we've had since probably 1978 and people are complaining that we can't get out quickly enough to shovel out fire hydrants. Or you know there are shocked we had some some comments at the South the news dot com site or Facebook that if I had known she was sure she was snowed in I would have gone on and shovel the route why don't you shovel around anyway. Yeah well go ahead I'm sorry. You know there might be a different case because she was in an apartment so it's like on our street we have three guys with snow blowers and they love using them and you know they'll just go up and

down the street plowing up people's sidewalks which is awesome. You know it's there for in the south and we've got this big apartment building where you may not really you know I know my neighbors are right you may not know that there's this poor woman who essentially trapped in an apartment and if you you know so you shovel out that sidewalk where you put the snow I think I think there's a there's a bigger issue that the city needs to look at with just all of the snow issues you know have come come up this year. Space savers there it used to be mostly a Southie issue there and runs them down. They're all over there and play their pawn so I want you to make sure that you're not I mean this is their idealism part let's mind there are you hearing there read there in Chicago there were in Brooklyn there were in Queens. I've got one in front of my house I mean these people block and I just saw on the stand. Reason I don't know. I geez I might my usual job as you know.

Criticizing the city is criticizing the city but I think given the magnitude of the snow fall and given the paucity of resources I think on balance the city and even the state have responded reasonably. I do think though in the case of Ms Evans and maybe the the people at the at the at the mayor's hotline have been overwhelmed. I mean it is unfortunate that someone didn't take it upon themselves to like find out what her church was all about her community her immediate community they could feel they are not and I don't mean you know call the Salvation Army are. The Red Cross who may not do it but because she's an old woman who I must say and maybe I'm reading between the lines she seem determined to get the mayor's off. Yes yes yes it did seem it did but you know it is it does also speak to the complexity sometimes that the that those of us who are 50 and

older facing the world you have to deal with the Medicaid stuff of six months. Yeah the Medicaid stuff you got to call the mayor's hotline you know who can keep track of all this you know but to another point. Adam you had a great posting up a couple weeks ago regarding someone who we know recently for his efforts around the Beth Israel but who is the man who cleaned up the Boston Harbor and he had a call to dump the snow in Boston Harbor which I wholeheartedly agree with. Right because the mayor has a point. You know you don't want to. It's not the snow itself it's the salt it's the oil it's dog waste whatever. But if you're just going to put it in a vacant yard somewhere it's going to melt. And where is it going to go. It's going to go in the storm drains. And where do they go. Boston Harbor when I cut out the middleman essentially. Do you know who said that and who are you that I'm sorry. Yeah well Paul Levy Well you know something about Boston Harbor. He was the guy in charge of cleaning it up. You know 20 years ago and he did it under budget so

he must know something. You know we've gotten to the point where I mean this as you said this is an awful whiner way worse. Not that we got more snow it's that it didn't melt. You know there have been other winners we've got more snow but we had that melting like we're having. Fortunately this week. But it got to the point where we had a six foot high pile in our in our front yard where you put the stuff you know at some point the city has to do something with it. You know another issue that's plaguing the city streets of Boston which South the news reported on is the trash issue which as soon as all this snow melt will be lots of trash and I couldn't I walk in Harvard. And also yes it was like. You know the entire world is dumping instantiates on Harvard and it's right. Right I mean it's everywhere I mean I mean I'm in the suburbs and I'm shocked to see this. It's almost as if people have just given up any any kind of self-control around littering or emptying their ashtrays or we just didn't see it because there's

so much white. But either way it is going to be a hard job for the Boston city workers. And again another issue where residents sometimes don't take an interest or ownership on their sidewalks I mean I grew up in Revere in Near East Boston. You know where once a day they were out taking a bucket of hot water pouring it down the front steps to make sure that the front of the stores in the homes were clean it's not something you see anymore but you are well to some extent you're like there's a guy named Max Conti. He's active in the neighborhood association in North Van and he has his own blog. He's actually going to post with us that he's going out today for 15 minutes to clear out the area around the stats and you know he wants other people to join him. And one of the things the city does do which is pretty cool is they always have a spring clean up where they open it. But it was a bunch of brooms when they called for volunteers and everybody dispensed with you know cleaning up. So there is still some ownership but it's your right it's like it seems like oh there's snow on the ground. We don't have

to care. Right. I mean it really is amazing to me. And I do think it's a lot to do with that. These are the same people who are dumping on the side of the road but you just you just don't see it in the in the in the foliage and stuff. So Peter a great story from our friend Adam Riley over at the Boston Phoenix about the soft spoken quiet shy man who seems to be the architect or at least the go to writer for many people looking to topple their dictators. Oh yeah. Several years ago Adam who truth be told is at WGBH But when the other was writing for the Phoenix he did a profile of East Boston's Jean shop. Who's this 80 something year old quiet intellectual guy who believe in the law of the New York Times finally caught up. With the story in yesterday he was on the front page. This mild man the 80 year old guy is is the intellectual theoretician of all of these

revolutions in the Middle East. I mean it's not just that he's not a Muslim theoretician he is in favor of the posing dictators wherever they may exist. And he's written this handy dandy 20 page little guide which is called Waging nonviolent struggle. Twentieth century practice in 21st century potential which anyone can download from the end to that. And people around the world people have done that in Venezuela when they protest against Chavez. They've they've certainly done that in Lithuania and Estonia years ago. They've done that in Iran and apparently they're doing it in the Middle East now and this. This quiet thoughtful guy from East Boston is spinning thoughts that is provoking revolutions all around the world. Peter what's so special about it not having read the entire Even though it's not that long but the excerpt that I read in The Boston Phoenix very dry very

theoretical yet it seemed simple to me in the process what is it that he has hit upon that is is really grabbing hold in working. Well it's he says look even dictators who we have total control are supported by someone in the in he urges protesters to go after you know to to to draw the attention of the dictator's supporters for example in Egypt if you know this there's been a lot of talk about well my god the Army's not doing anything the army is just watch you know the army will determine how this is out. Well that's because the protesters were calling upon the army to help them in a way it's it's a form of dialogue you know find out who supports the dictator and then try the undermine that support. It's just very very interesting he says he's just a quiet guy for the most part. You know it's not

like he's running a Institute teaching people how to do this or it's just you know his Albert Einstein Institute which is the name of it I think it was and is him a woman you know. Right. They they couldn't afford the rent in Harvard Square so they moved to the dumpy end of Newbury Street back when Newbury Street have a dumpy and then they couldn't afford that so we moved to East Boston. George Soros has given him some money but you know where are the MacArthur grants when you really need them. Right right right. You're listening to the Kelly Crossley Show here on WGBH. Adam you had two stories from The Boston Globe that you covered over at Universal which were just you know one the great disappointment that the Greenway that we all hope the rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is not going to be what we had hoped it would be. And the other that the commuter rail service which we hope to be able to rely on especially when the weather is

bad and the traffic is bad because of it has come up with a different plan and a different approach. They'd like to implement in the case of storms talk about Greenway first in a green way. You know what the Globe reported was the last of the four major cultural buildings that was going to be put up which is a YMCA has been canceled. So what we're left with is a big green swath of land and you know it's got little. Actually several parts connected I mean the Chinatown part is a lot different than the north and part but the original plan for this with this sort of grand stitching together of the city and you know it was going to bring new vitality and everything. And it's it's nice but it's not it's not what we were promised. But on the other hand if you look at I put up something posted a guy wrote a book about the Charles River at the turn of the last century the 20th century dam the Charles River. And that was supposed to bring a new vitality to the area and new institutions. And

20 years later nothing had been done. And they didn't even have the Esplanade at that point. Now of course you know the Charles River Basin is I mean it's a key part of the city. So maybe unfortunately may not see it in our lifetimes but at some point the Greenway will be the school thing you know after the mayor leaves and after Don farro weaves in and you get people in there that can actually agree on what to do in the not spending all the money fighting each other. You know and there's no know it it does work I mean I just. Isn't it ironic that the Big Dig which was not only the largest public works project in the history of the world but also the biggest boondoggle at least in the history of the United States. Fred Silva cheese idea was to open this space up. Now everything is done about the Big Dig which by the way has been despite all its problems a tremendous it's a boon the great thing it is and it will not do that in a Boston it's

terrific. But the thing it was supposed to unleash. Open up this downtown space. I gather you know when I was reading the stories that have the metaphor that I was the typical typical. But he just put it in a really good perspective using the chiles rellenos analogy. It'll happen soon I will leave it right. Right. We just hope we're around long enough. OK. And quickly Adam just to touch on the rail service the commuter rail officials are proposing to run a reduced schedule and fall weather according to The Boston Globe. Eric Moskowitz a story what's up with that. I mean I wish I knew. I haven't seen an explanation for why that actually makes sense to reduce. The trains at the very moment when people are good telling people take the trains to abandon their cars. One theory I've seen is that you know that they simply don't have enough good locomotives anymore. The communal rail like the so much a subway system is falling apart. You know I just got two locomotives. I mean you know it's nice so that

if you have fewer trains you're more likely to get good equipment. But what happens now if one of those trains does break which will happen all the sudden you're you've already got this train full of people standing there and they know you're there's no place to put them. You know it's another example of how the infrastructure at the end BTA has been ignored or pushed aside for the last 20 or 30 years we're paying the price now. OK now can you suggest reducing traffic. Well not without an explanation. I mean yes it's very likely that there might be some some explanation why there is this scary thought to me and all this is Adam when you just said paying the price it looks like a mark on the wall for the pay the price of needing a by the way engines where you know up the creek without a way we go and get tying it back to the Big Dig. Part of it is because that he was forced into a lot of fairly expensive projects that really have no money to pay for by the state which said OK yeah well we're going to do this massive

highway projects will extend the green line which is in itself a laudable goal. But where's the money coming from not just to build the new clean mine but you know to you know have new trains you have to have new people stamp them. But he is paying the price for decisions that it really has nothing to do with. It just seems like the whole thing's just just about to fall apart although I know it seems all of a sudden to the lay person including myself but these are as you said issues that have been brewing and the groundwork was laid on for quite a while and you know we have been incredibly lucky for the most part. We get fired from the president. Well thank you so much for joining us we've been talking local news with Peter caddis executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and Adam Gaffin founder and editor of universal hub the hyper local news blog over at Universal dot com. Coming up we're taking a turn from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with a

tour of this week's tabloids will be back after this break. Stay tuned on eighty nine point seven. The. Full. Support for WGBH comes from you and from North Hill in Needham a community with a host of amenities for independent people aged 65 plus and proud to support WGBH. North Hill in Needham. Don't just live. Live well. Details at Northville dot org. And from the Museum of Science where you can discover whether our race makes us different or alike at Race Are We So Different. The revealing new exhibit at the Museum of Science. Tickets available online at M.O.s dot org. And from the members of the WGBH leadership circle who support the news with a gift of a dollar a day to learn more about the benefits of joining the leadership circle. Visit WGBH dot org.

The next time on the world these students are not trying to bring down a government they're demanding that one be created. Belgium has surpassed Iraq's record for the number of days without a government. Young demonstrators from Belgian Unity have resorted to surreal tactics including stripping down to their underwear to show that underneath it all Belgians are the same. Our story next time on the road. Coming up at three o'clock here at eighty nine point seven WGBH. Celebrate 40 years of masterful performances with WGBH in the critically acclaimed PBS series masterpiece Saturday evening April 9th of the WGBH studios. Enjoy a night of good food fun drinks and a look back at this series remarkable history. Share a toast with masterpiece producers and take in a cabaret performance by the host of Masterpiece Mystery Allen coming to. Hand me downs tickets started $50 called 6 1 7 0 0 0 fifty four hundred. Seven. Come join me every Saturday at 3 for a good old fashioned session on a Celtic So

you're not on any 9.7. It's rag time a view of this week's coverage in the tabloids. It's an examination of the salacious to the ridiculous and everything in between but this being public radio we'll conduct our review with the help of some highbrow analysts are pointy headed boss of pop culture Thomas Conley a professor in the Department of English at Suffolk University and Rachel Rubin the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston welcome. Oh what a great week. I'll tell you I'm so happy to see you too. I don't know where to start. How about with Billy Ray Cyrus. Always a good time. Let's help let's have our friend Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live give us a little intro into the situation at hand. It's a strangely revealing interview I'll tell you. I think for me it's refreshing to hear a celebrity playing the devil for his problems you know in my opinion it doesn't happen

enough. But today the devil held a press conference and he lashed back at data Montana. Oh no wait I have to deal with you. WARNER So if we were shoulder to shoulder I mean seriously this fall guy. Better get my. Mind. Off to dinner with the Black Eyed Peas. Oh my my of course the devil was referring to the quotes in the story that Jimmy Jimmy the Billy Ray Cyrus has given to some magazines you want to elaborate a little bit. It's extraordinary the devil is stalking the Cyrus family from Nashville to Hollywood. And it's interesting how he's so clinical about the way that he claims to have tried to protect his family through through baptism and so forth. But it apparently isn't working and blaming.

I mean no no one is on Billy Ray Cyrus aside or at least I haven't seen anything and he gave an interview to was it didn't fair Dick you did you seek you and Billy Ray for those who maybe don't know this Billy Ray was sort of a beat here one hit wonder in the country music scene his daughter Miley Cyrus has become Hannah Montana the big franchise the big money making machine for Disney. Hannah has said goodbye and Miley is now 18 and gone on her way. Billy I mean having a 10 year old I'm I'm fully versed on this and having seen Hannah twice in concert and it wants Miley wants. You know that some missteps that happened in my career. He took the heat for as the parent who was in the in the show with her made records with her made songs with her and now he's given this interview saying I you know I can't do anything the devil has taken over people have taken over my daughter's brain. She's going to end up like Lindsay Lohan I made no money from any of this

and woe is me. Well I think that he's right because I think Disney is the devil and man as such has taken over his family. And you know you know but actually the fact is it you know first of all I don't think Miley is so bad off. I mean I kind of like her. You know what has she done like she hasn't done anything that is does that seems out of line to me for an 18 year old at all it's just you know that we all pay so very much attention to it. Yeah I don't win them in the concert movie where they had the backstage stuff which you know is not completely candid but I did get a feeling watching it you know just that. He seems like a pretty good kid. You know there's not a few years ago and but his reaction I mean in Disney maybe the devil and all that but what is up with Billy Ray Cyrus I mean how do you what's he afraid of why I think he's afraid of being blamed and I think this is pretty damage control.

Apparently Miley isn't speaking to him and is furious with him Disney did drop. I thought they were done say what done I mean it was time as they made they made the after the interview they came out with the process by the way just so you all know we're not affiliated with her anymore. I think the juxtaposition of the latest on Lindsay Lohan has also made this something that is being hyper scrutinized if you will. And also he I think he feels as though things have gotten away from him and it's out of his control and he somehow wants it back. And I think that's what he really wants not that Hannah Montana had never happened but he wants to be in control. I had some high hopes for miley cyrus and i still do it as an artist so I thought that the ability to have this second identity would allow her to make a transition into some adulthood performing whatever it would be that she could have the Hannah Montana over here and then have Miley Cyrus but you can't. I mean that's the funny thing about her concert I mean that the audience had a hard time going with their all our love.

And I do like I mean I like that a lot as it reminds us that even those of us who you know not those of us God know even those performers who don't have a whole second name are playing a character right and the problem is that more and more and more there is no off stage. There is no off stage from Miley there is no off stage for her father. I mean that's sort of where the out of control feeling comes from not because Miley you know smoked pot once but that there was no off stage and he sort of it is very hard to get it back or even remember what it was but no he obviously he can't be in control of it because you know there are much bigger entities who are waiting to make money off of their family. Right. Well it's a cautionary Ulysse is Taylor I guess is that the sirens of Disney calling to you Liz. When I go I go off into your territory now but the other big brouhaha from this week is also in the teen heartthrob world we're going to take a listen

first to. Let's I don't know surprise us surprise us. That of course is Justin Bieber and was in a battle to the death with this artist. And straw. Man. Of course not. Esperanza Spalding who won the Grammy Bieber didn't. What the heck is going on here. Well the category was best a new artist which is the kiss of death for so many. But also it's like he's not the best he's not doing he's not I'm. Sorry. I had to wait there I went there but only because you know and I've been a big defender of Justin you know with the you know you know within reason because it really is a fact that culture in our country that gets associated with girls is

is the most denigrated of all. And Spence the disturbing that said you know Justin Bieber with his target audience of young women it's really upsetting to me. The stuff that he said in Rolling Stone magazine about abortion frankly you know and I felt like you know and so particularly for this young group of young girls who are just starting to find out just starting to experiment what it will be like to be you know in that kind of adult relationship that that actually has the possibility to be very damaging to them. So you know I said at the same time you know whenever these young pop icons talk about anything grown up there's a huge switch that just turns off with a lot of the kids. I you know I really really hope that's true but there's also been a lot of you know were a lot of attacks right now on reproductive rights and I'm just worried about that and I'm sorry you went there. I want to compliment Rolling Stone very much however because I felt like they really sort of signified on him in a graceful way. And that is when he said The thing about you know he said he said The thing about you know abortion is killing babies. They

printed the question mark at the end that clearly represented his intonation. You know the way some young people turned everything into a question it was. It was one punctuation mark. It's also I force interested in how vehemently Canadian he came across in the interview. Also the tone of the interview was so serious I mean it was as though they were interviewing. You know I don't mind Henry Kissinger and Mother Teresa. Also the hair the picture. I've been surprised there's been less fallout from that. But as you said it's you're not exaggerating when you say death struggle what has happened with the Esperance website being hacked and so forth. I mean I think this is only the beginning of a young back conc going after anyone who threatens their Orphy. But this is don't mess with the younger generation on the social networking. This is though in some regard the age old dilemma for the Grammys though. You know I know that this Best New Artist category I love for so many reasons especially because Starland

Vocal Band beat out the cars back in the 70s. Because every year there's some discussion about who is a new artist and who isn't Lady Gaga wasn't but then she is and what the. And you know and it's a TV show for the most part the Grammys and the year that they really focus on artists are the years that they get the lowest rating and then they swing the other way and they get high ratio was HUGE will somehow I think this year they kind of you know went back and forth a little bit I thought the performances were were good. I mean it was good TV. Yes the performance was really that's better than good right you know I must say. Yes I mean you know it's you know I mean that now we know why she's been in there for so long because she was you know in the weeds a little bit but you know what what Lady Gaga recently came out saying she smokes marijuana shock. What do you think we talked last time we were together about about Mick Jagger and his tribute to. What did what did you guys think I mean I thought he was good I mean he really he was in very good voice he seemed completely in control. You know he doesn't always come

across that way I thought it was an excellent performance. But the performance you know that that ruled the Grammys was definitely Cee-Lo So yeah absolutely. That Cee-Lo dressed as Elton John said to me straight singing with puppets it was it was just beautiful in a lot of different ways. You know it is one of the riving I mean you know I kind of ambivalent about Gwenyth and how the negative way or positive way but it was fun. Yes well I think you know I'm going to need to tell you what I think Cee-Lo is going TV in this way I think takes him down from what he was right. I mean I don't want to cast a I don't say sold out but it's a it's a different page and I'm not sure I like oh no but he's always sort of letting the thing I love about him and that is he's always he uses these appearances to sort of blur identity rather than to make it more rigid which you know performances can basically do those two things right and so he's always sort of being a chameleon and masquerading a bit. I love watching some of it with my 10 year old and she only knows Mick Jagger from the cashless

song so you know boy and when Mick Jagger came out she was just horrified she just could not believe that. I mean just in terms of what she had in her mind of this person you know that you are not Mick Jagger I'm kicking you to the curb or whatever the lyric about this and that is what I'm kicking people to the curb for but she ended up enjoying it but it was a very funny moment sort of like this is not what I thought it was going at all you know. Also in the news the taste maker on the right and the taste maker on the left joining together to defend Spider Man let's take a listen to what Glenn Beck has to say. It starts in the first three minutes. Like Cirque du Soleil like you see a Disney. And then it just goes up from there. The. The acting would be the acrobatic the physicality of this is it's athletics. It's unbelievable.

It's unbelievable Glenn Beck loving Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark Oprah loving it the critics not loving it. Boy has there been a lot of back and forth about Spider-Man. Yeah I mean this is an and it's an amusement park and the absence of context that almost all of these big commentators have provided there is OK it's computerized flying. But that kind of flying has been around since the middle of the 19th century which is probably why Glenn Beck feels so comfortable with the descriptions that irritate me are Julie Taymor comment that the audience would not accept the 30 million dollar Spider-Man it had to be a 62 million dollar Spider-Man. And you know full disclosure I was in the Boston Children's Theater too and the values that we were taught in the theater were entertain children on a small scale make it theatrical don't make it too technical and this to me is just what has happened to Broadway. It's just it's just I'm of a theme park.

Well yeah I hope so. It's really been it's a meal it's mostly funny to the things that sometimes the people decide to make musicals up but particularly with comic books. I'm very interested in adaptations things that move from one form to the other and you know think about what gets gained by doing it and what gets lost. Comic books are hard to adapt. Even the movies you know that it's the ones that have managed I think to capture that sort of visual comical visual are not necessarily the ones that are also good movies. So you know to see how that sort of. Yeah. And yet it's a comic book so you need the visuals to so to think about how that might move from form to form is interesting to be. There is one part though in the musical that does seem to me to be really really smart and that was a group of there that's a group of commentators in the show who are called the geek chorus who are made up of science fiction fan fiction writers who you know sort of offer observations were telling us that's just a perfect perfect touch. Now the thing that I'm Could I'm up all night worrying about is the United States Patent Office. I

have seen a number of lawsuits on on flowcharts base that were patented that have helped make Facebook what it is today and I'm thinking gee if I could just make a couple of flowcharts I would have I would be a billionaire right now. Harlequin romance who has brought us you know tons of entertainment over the years and will continue to has hope that they would go ahead and apply their patent to a kiss. There you go turned in a seven page patent application. I say this is Boston I am going to turn in a patent application for flipping the bird. I'm going to pad it with like like Harlequin I will charge when people do it. No seriously it's one of those things obviously it's a marketing ploy a somewhat cynical one it's meant to be funny it's meant to be goofy but it's these moments I love because then all of a sudden you realize it's told the truth on itself. Right so it's a joke and it's a joke that reminds us about the commodification of our bodies of our human relationships that that is all now not only fodder for the

advertising the marketing but it is the content and form and shape of the marketing too. But also what a sad lonely heart image they present themselves by saying you know the art of the KISS is gone well maybe they just haven't puckered up lately. No no I like the diagram though I see how they pull in some of the public school sex education I mean it actually shows you. Engineering but the graphic reminded me of some of those 19th Century Patent Office failure things like the the automatic hat tipping device and so forth I mean it's it doesn't look like a computer graphic I mean it really looks like it was done in a blueprint right. And it's just so unappealing that you read that thing you never want to know any talk about muscles and it's just gross. So health classes will doubtless be using it. Yeah keep it to be keeping people from doing it right. Exactly do you think the patent office. I mean it when it comes to entertainment obviously and art and you know I'm I'm always shocked to think about documentary work or film makers and what they need to edit out

of pieces because of you know someone singing a song or things that appear in images and it just seems like we have come so far away. From what the intent of protecting art and right to where we are today I mean I can't remember the documentary but if a kid was in and he was singing the school song he made up to a lyrics he made up to a popular song just a little tiny bit of it. It was what the filmmaker thought was essential to telling the story. Couldn't get it because you couldn't get clearance writes on it white and please remember write most of the time it's not protecting the artist is protecting the gigantic company that runs you know it's the artists. I mean are we going to swing back some time. I hope so people are working on that all right. Yeah. Well hold my breath and hopefully will when we meet next time it'll be all right. Great thanks so much for joining us Professor Rachel Rubin professor Thomas Connelly. We'll see you soon. Thanks for joining us on rag time. I'm Sue O'Connell I've been sitting in for Kelly Crossley today. You can keep on top of the Kelly Crossley Show at

WGBH dot org slash Kelly Crossley follow us on Twitter or of course Friend us at the Kelley cross Lee show on Facebook. The Kelley crustily show is a production of WGBH radio. I'll be back here on Monday I'm Sue O'Connell. I'll see you then.