WGBH Radio; 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. Will 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 Louise Schiavone. President Obama says he's

launching a new approach to promoting food security in Africa as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the president's calling for all hands on deck. President Obama who's hosting the group of eight leading industrialized economies says the G8 has to keep its pledge to invest 22 billion dollars in the agriculture sector of Africa. He says his new approach also includes big investments from the private sector. Today I can announce that 45 companies from major international corporations and companies and cooperated have pledged to invest more than 3 billion dollars to kick off this effort. The president was joined by the leaders of Ethiopia Ghana and Tanzania for the announcement. He said Africa was an exporter of food 50 years ago and there's no reason it shouldn't be feeding itself and exporting food again. Michele Kelemen NPR News Washington. Mitt Romney's campaign has released a new TV ad which the campaign says will run in a number of important swing states. And Brian Naylor offers this snapshot.

The spot is entitled day one and purports to outline what the first day of a Romney administration might look like. What would a Romney presidency is like. President Romney immediately approves the Keystone pipeline creating thousands of jobs that Obama blocked. President Romney introduces tax cuts and reforms that reward job creators. Punish. The ad goes on to say a President Romney would also begin replacing Obamacare with quote common sense health care reform. The spot indicates that for now the Romney campaign intends to stick to a positive message in its media and leave the negative attacks to outside groups. Brian Naylor NPR News Washington. The prosecution's main witness in the federal perjury trial against Roger Clemens says some of the medical evidence he saved in a beer can was not used on the former pitcher. McNamee had said the evidence proved he injected Clemens with steroids. Under cross-examination Brian McNamee testified a pin stashed in the can as evidence may or may not have been used

on Clemens. Facebook raised 16 billion dollars in an initial public offering yesterday today it's everyone else's turn with the public price set at $38 a share the value rose to forty two dollars in the first minute. The fever pitch open now behind us. The price has settled back slightly. Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget encourages potential Facebook stock buyers to wait a bit. It is critically important to even long term investors to not just. For a tickly buy it where ever it opens the company's valued at one hundred four billion dollars on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow was down for twelve thousand four hundred thirty eight. The Nasdaq down 4. This is NPR. Good afternoon from the WGBH radio newsroom in Boston I'm Christina Quinn with the local stories we're following. The state Senate has passed a bill requiring car manufacturers to sell certain information to local mechanics repair shops and car dealerships for repair purposes.

State senators passed the controversial measure late Thursday night and now heads to the House of Representatives under the legislation carmakers would be mandated to allow vehicle owners and independent mechanics to purchase access to repair and diagnostic codes. Supporters say it would bring savings and convenience but opponents argue the bill doesn't guarantee savings for consumers and say the information is already available to owners and mechanics. A third teenager has been arrested in connection with an armed home invasion in Wareham and the sexual assault of two female residents. Police say two women and one man who lived in the home reported that just after midnight on Thursday that three or four armed and masked men forcibly entered the house and assaulted and robbed them before leaving with cash and jewelry. The two women said they were sexually assaulted. Two men were pulled over later Thursday in separate traffic stops and charged in connection with the home invasion. Rhode Island's unemployment rate ticked up again in April to eleven point two percent and the size of the state's labor force continue to decline. The State Department of Labor in training says the jobless rate was up one tenth of one percentage point from March. The

April figure is more than three percentage points higher than the US unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. In sports game four of the Eastern Conference semifinals is in Philadelphia tonight as the Celtics take on the Sixers. Boston has a 2 to 1 lead over Philadelphia and the Red Sox are also in Philadelphia to play the Phillies. Daniel Bard is starting for the Sox. So nice guys for the rest of the day and the weekend looks beautiful too mostly sunny with highs in the mid 70s on both Saturday and Sunday. Right now it's 62 degrees in Boston 72 in Worcester and 69 in Providence. Support for NPR comes from Barnes and Noble maker of Nook Simple touch with glow light designed for reading with the lights on or off. Available at Barnes Noble stores or dot com. I'm Christina Quinn you'll find more news at WGBH news daughter org. Good afternoon I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Krause Lee and today we're looking at the week's news with John Rouche editor of the Jamaica Plain Gazette and Mission Hill Gazette Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and Seth Daniels senior

reporter of the independent news group which includes the Revere Journal. Welcome back everyone. Thank you. Certainly I know there's another news making week for us which is great Peter I'm going to start with you and talk a little bit about a story that broke a week ago Wednesday just as many of our newspapers were going to press and that was Barack Obama coming out in support personal support marriage equality same sex marriage rights and you possibly have the gayest cover that the Phoenix has ever had and we know it's hard to say if that's a good one. It's hard to really top that but you have you've got Barach sailing the the waters of America the Potomac I guess it would be with his rainbow flag you know. George Barack Obama crossing the Delaware the W Right right to Delaware thank you. But thanks for the compliment. Well we've been as a newspaper pretty boy. Yeah for a long long time yeah. And David Bernstein a top political guy wrote a story that.

Looked ahead that used Barack Obama's final come to Jesus moment. Thanks to the vice president yes. Why do they keep giving him grief for that but that's not the topic we're on. Well making the vice presidency finally relevant. Yeah Joe Biden he should get a one of those profile encourage me was that the Kennedy Library. Anyway David you know it really talks about five things first said that now in the wake of the president's endorsement you know people battling to overturn restrictions on same sex marriage in specific states will be going on the offensive. They won't really be being defensive anymore because even though it's not a slam dunk you do have the power and prestige of the president of the United States behind you. That's a new angle and this means a lot in Maine where people are working now the one do the damage done a few

years again it goes back and forth in Maine as you know. Yeah same sex marriage is legal then it isn't and it's an ongoing process. Secondly the Democratic Party is now the party of all marriage. It's it's the inclusive party. And this really mad as for example Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island who was a true blue Democrat. Very moderate moderate to liberal but in a state that had just recently rejected same sex marriage. Two hours after Obama spoke some of the jack Reid's office was on Twitter on Facebook released saying they were following the president's lead and were firmly in favor of same sex marriage. Now I'm not making light of this. Reid's a former military officer. You know he sees the president as the commander in chief. Obama spoke Jack Reed followed

the things like that really matter. It's also it's also important to note that the power of the bully pulpit which you know here is something the president says which has absolutely no concrete immediate result. There's no law changes nothing changes in terms of how it effects the laws and each state in regard to marriage. But at the same time it changes the Democratic Party it changes Armed Services and also a lot of many African-American clergy who have been quietly much like Barack Obama with a wink and a nod supporting same sex marriage but have not been leading that congregations are now given cover to do that. You know in that leads into to all the points up piece makes and the importance of being decent just. The way in which Obama talked about his his conversion his evolution. He wasn't wrapping it in the Constitution he was talking about

around his dinner table. And you know we say that's the importance of being decent and you know talking about talk talk Spurs change in by talking about that. You know there's a greater chance of a get. But really what this does is the whole way in which this has been handled is a very shop contrast to the cold and heartless and the saw of a drum roll please the Republican nominee Mitt Romney. You know unfortunately for Romney the the news of him scalping a former student student cutting his hair on big Yeah yeah high school mate high school miss giving him a cut. Well more and more frighteningly not remembering he did it and I actually give him a pass on the doing. It's the remembering that the lack of remembering that worries me. Yeah or he could have said say he honestly didn't remember it say cheese I honestly don't remember that but my Gawd if I did that right it was horrible. Yeah that's all he had to

say. But also the nasty way in which he talks about immigrants. I mean Romney's a cold guy but the polls show him climbing. But anyway that's why didn't Biden save the presidency I guess is that we should. Well I hope John was over at the Jamaica Plain. Is that you mark the eighth anniversary of marriage equality here in the state of Massachusetts. The Goodridge case and the subsequent marrying of couples legal marrying of of gay couples here in the state Jamaica Plain was was the birthplace in some ways of the movement that brought that. I mean the lawsuit that successfully. You know the state lawsuit that in 2003 led to the legalization of same sex marriage. Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health named for the JP couple Julie and Hillary Goodridge had a couple other JP plaintiffs. I think you know this goes to Peter's point about the decency angle the decency issue which is you know for

us for a long time this was just a local story about our neighbors and that's why it wasn't. You know I mean it was groundbreaking a groundbreaking lawsuit but it wasn't so groundbreaking in the sense of these were people we knew and saw in the grocery store and so on and so forth that these are you know it's not a wedge issue that's flying around out there abstractly this is about real decent people who contributed to our community so. That's what it's all about that's the angle the president took in speaking about it and how you know the new generation his children to see this as a non issue. So again it's people they know. So it's yeah it's a local story for us it will continue to be will have some some response pieces on that coming up soon but yeah it's it's a human issue. Yeah it's a human issue in a lot of things didn't changed lots didn't lots didn't. So over to you in the journal you know the effects of the economic crisis and some of the lack of availability of

jobs for folks is affecting everyone. But one of the communities hardest hit seems to be the immigrant community especially those kids graduating from high school and college now who maybe have been born here or you know have come over here are first generation and the lack of jobs is really hitting that Revere community hard. Well yeah I mean this is hitting students it's not only immigrants but I can I can say that definitely you know a lot of the a lot of their parents were doing really well in construction I mean construction was booming they were making money they could send their kids to college on what they were making. It also holds true for like I don't know a lot of middle managers from from say. Banks downtown Boston financial sector and they've lost their jobs. All right so so now kids are looking to go to college in the parents don't have the income that they had before. They can't go to a four year university and this is trickling out now starting last year but really so

this year kids are looking more to community college in Revere for instance and in Everett too but in Revere about 85 percent of the kids went on to a four year university just a few years ago. And that was that was the biggest number ever. And then it's declined since since. You know the joblessness has has crept up. So you get kids now who are perfect candidates very smart perfect candidates for a four year university and they are out of necessity going to a community college in fact there is I've heard from one guidance counselor a lot of competition this year for the community college scholarship which before was seen as kind of a step backwards when also around a consolation prize consolation prize exactly but now it's what kids are doing and it's becoming of course it's there's some peer pressure but it's becoming more accepted in fact the guidance counselors I've heard it too of the public school say you know this is a smart move. Go there for two years get your you know your reading I should want to know why I'm writing all that stuff mathematics basic math whatever you have to take do that at the community community

college which is much cheaper transfer to the University of your choice after that. In the end you'll have a lot less debt and you can. You know move on into the job world from there. Having taken that path rather than what used to be the traditional path of a four year university. You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH an online at WGBH dot org we're going over the week's local news with Peter cads of the Boston Phoenix. John Russo of the Jamaica Plain Gazette and Mission Hill Gazette and Seth Daniel of the ridge revere Journal. You know John it was fascinating to me to read also. I love the local local angle for this week in the in the Jamaica Plain is that especially the Elizabeth Warren issue which is just you know not going to go away. Her her claiming of her heritage of being Cherokee of being Native American you know it resonated with me on a lot of levels because I probably am more Native American than she is and what she was. And my mother worked really hard to

find. You know back in the 70s if there was a scholarship for me to get you know we did nothing that was in any way shape or form Native American except her grandmother my mother's grandmother was Native American and unfortunately it was they didn't keep very good records of birth certificates in those things back in the 1800s so there was no real trail but I was just my mother could have gone to college on a scholarship but I couldn't but never once except to take you know advantage of an opportunity. Did I think that I am culturally Native American. You know and you know you meet a lot of people as we talk about this in the mix people say you know my grandmother was Native American but I would never you know I have a friend who was adopted found out her heritage was Puerto Rican was raised as a Greek she says I never walk around saying that because I didn't find out I was a Spanish seen. You know when you had a very very good NERV on the Elizabeth Warren story regarding Well if if you're still proud of your heritage why didn't you visit the Native American Center in Jamaica

Plain or mission. Yeah it's kind of the way it is kind of on the on the border there's I went there to try to get a scholarship and they wouldn't give me. Where it is. Well Warren has certainly been to JP A lot campaigning like crazy. And yet despite her her apparent profound interest in reaching out to fellow American Indians she has not gone there. And yeah I we just decided to call him up and see what they thought. You know and there was there was clearly some hurt and upset that she has not has not visited and there's an invitation for her to go there which of course she now will never do. Yeah I mean it gets this this issue just struck me as if she were claiming to be of any other race or ethnic background that she you know aside from Caucasian. I can't imagine that she would get this treatment of. Of. You know we don't even call up the the local Native Americans and ask them what they think

about it. That has changed a bit the Herald has a big story now with a lot of reaction from from American Indians but it's strange that how much of a pass you got on this I think. So I was going to say I think they bought it. Here's what they say. They the warring Oh you know what they should have said is look you've got to remember I'm from Oklahoma in that neck of the woods. Everyone who can summon up even the ninety eighth of a drop of Native American blood does so when those very proud you know I grew up being told that I had Native American had sesterces. I'm very proud of that fact. Now people can make fun of me and I can take and I can take a joke and I'm willing to allow for a laugh along. But that makes me no less proud. Period right and the story set what I want you to I don't want you know I'm in on this because I'm actually I grew up not far from Oklahoma and we have narratives of this in our family too going back and my grandfather was born on an Indian reservation. My His

his aunt lived on one factor in Oklahoma in Teluk local home. But there's no indication that either one of them were born to people of Indian ancestry and frankly when you're from that area just about everybody could probably trace some fractional part of their blood to that and if you're not a I guess a true blooded American Indian in that area at least you shouldn't go around saying it and making any sort of claim. And the fact that she would I I would think that people in Oklahoma would be very upset especially those who are American Indian. You know I once was interviewing someone who kept telling me that he grew up on the reservation in New York and brought in the Buffalo area and I just you know figured out that he was Native American and nephews working for me for two years because no I just lived on the Ritz but I kept saying that because I knew people would think yeah. So I always appreciated that we're going to take a quick break we're looking at local news with John Peter gadgets and Seth Daniel. I'm Sue O'Connell sitting in for Kelly Crossley. You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH Boston Public Radio.

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I came to China kind of looking for American dream you know. It was so read that the liberal for you the online profile he's talking about isn't a Nigerian social network that he built from scratch. Facebook it's not. But it does connect the growing Nigerian community living in China. The book is a dot com. Next time on the world. Coming up at 3 o'clock here at eighty nine point seven WGBH. It's time to spring into action for the forty seventh annual WGBH spring auction bid on fine jewelry gives certificates exciting vacations weekend getaways and even a brand new Toyota Prius donated by your New England Toyota dealer. Every winning bid supports WGBH radio and television. So not only will you get a great deal you'll feel great while you're doing it. But act fast. The spring auction ends on May 30 first place your bids now at auction on WGBH dot org. Great question. That's a great question and that's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question on fresh air you'll hear unexpected questions and unexpected

answers this afternoon and to hear an eighty nine point seven WGBH. Welcome back to the Kelly Crossley Show I'm Sue O'Connell sitting in for Kelly if you're just tuning in we're looking at the week in local news Joining me to talk between the headlines are John Russo editor of the Jamaica Plain does that and the Mission Hill Gazette. Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and Seth Daniel senior reporter of the independent news group which includes the Revere Journal. You know Seth you've got one of these great stories of a small company and how the entire court case in Turkey is effecting the entire area. So I'm just going to let you tell the story because it's got a lot of twists to it so you know the last thing you would think Chelsea has in common with anything is that the nation of Turkey but it has it has quite a bit lately and there's a small company called Arsenal consulting some background there's a huge case the most important one in like 50 years going on in Turkey right now

and there's about 300 former military people who are on trial and they're accused of a coup of the government in like about 2003. And there's supposedly this these documents on computer and this far in Chelsea with this small company was asked by one of the one of the men who's on trial his daughter teaches at Harvard and he was asked to look into it. And so he got the evidence he took some deep looks into it as forensic people do I don't understand it but he looked into it and and the funny thing is he deep within the code he found references to the font color Libris in Cambridge we've all seen those on Microsoft Word documents the only problem is these documents are supposed to be from 2003. Those fonts weren't invented until 2007. So it's a gotcha you know and it's a great gotcha and it is really rippled the case over there. People I heard that the attorneys for the three hundred defendants got up in unison in and marched out. They marched out of the court has never been done

before. It's a pretty serious thing to do in Turkey you could be put in jail for it. So people are paying attention even to our story we've gotten a ton I was going to say you know what. This is one of those like suddenly you see your server you know straining under the weight you can't quite figure out what it was it was the entire nation of Turkey is doing right. Yeah on the website so far we haven't seen anybody at the local Chelsea stores buying the paper from Turkey but yes the website does experience a lot of hits in and from government officials over there from the media over there and they're citing it pretty pretty regularly and I don't know if it'll have any effect on the case but it's out there. That's a good point good point. John over at you wishing you did that and I actually am I'm so like you're the Watson of a lot of homes of Chelsea. I'm sure you know what a great story missing Sarah if I know you. You've got an interesting story. I think Jay Peak is at about the Catholic Church and the way

and the sex and all of that another complicated kind of interesting version of what we look at as Catholicism and what really there's much more there than meets the eye. For many of us and this is another story that's sort of in motion but it looks you know there's some pretty significant changes coming to our local Catholic parishes and maybe maybe throughout the Archdiocese of course the archdiocese isn't returned my calls so I don't know what really what's up there but there's been a controversy a lot coming change in the pastorship of our three merged Catholic parishes. The current pastor is only been there about a year in the in the bringing in a new guy from Revere who I think can tell something about and be you know there's curiosity as to why this change is going on. There's some indication that there's movement for the church to become more evangelical to try to boost its membership. The new pastor coming in is involved in a movement called the

neo catechumen allway which thankfully can just be called The Way for sure. It's been enormously controversial within the church. With criticism as extreme as calling it heresy. But it's also been essentially approved by the current pope as kind of a new evangelical movement. It involves creating a subgroup. Of parishioners who kind of get private religious instruction and worship separately a little bit and so on and so forth there's concerns that it can be divisive but it also obviously energizes people gets them involved in a new way. So there are some indications that this movement which does operate at the Revere church I understand may you know be coming to our parishes and just what does that mean for people who attend as well as for the community more traditional more. You know if you're attending a more traditional Catholic service or belong to that church and also the Mission Hill Church is not my understanding of it is that it's also diffs not

part of the Boston archdiocese. Right that's run by a separate order a separate order as well to insure. What do you know South about about what's happening here. Well the priest who's been transferred over his father Carlos Florian and I didn't even know about this until I read JOAN'S STORY. So he trust me on that one and I know him. I know father Carlos pretty well he's kind of really been a beacon for the Spanish speaking community in Revere He's at the Immaculate Conception Parish which traditionally was the Irish parish. And it is no it was if I remember correctly to absorb the Lady of Lourdes church where I was. Yeah and it's still an appeal that churches you know appealing and that's another story for another day another day. But yeah this this parish has a huge Spanish speaking population growing exponentially. He's been kind of the leader of that and the way I've seen it I've seen going to the meetings that they have and it's really kind of I don't really understand exactly the you know the dogma of it all but definitely it's like identifying your key players in the parish and then sort of like giving them

extra instruction and sending them out and this is a very van Jellicoe parish and he has a variant that evangelicals who they go knocking on doors cold knocking on doors inviting people to the church. Peter it's I always think about you know the parish set up in places like Jamaica Plain and how hard it might be for some folks to. You know it's hard enough obviously when the church is close or merge but also to take on a new a new flavor might be difficult. Well you know the Catholic parish that I would be affiliated with if I didn't go who in the past couple church because I can take the Catholic Church anymore when I say that sadly and respectfully but our Lady of Lourdes is increasingly Hispanic in the IT WOULD BE IN THIS is one of the parishes involved and I'm actually tempted to just you know go and see for myself. I mean it strikes me the areas I know we there are a number of Spanish

evangelical churches not catholic around. So it is certainly a there's certainly a flavor in the neighborhood and I would expect that this would. Show some promise of turning results. I mean I know our Lady of Lourdes parish is a vigorous parish. I mean yeah. And it's in many ways good to see some excitement about it. Well yeah but what bothers me is that the archdiocese really they closed the school a couple of years ago. I mean basically what they did is they said well OK we'll open it if you can raise $500000. Well with a month with a month's notice. Well you know what. The parents raised $500000 and then the most nos and then they closed. Well Peter I want to stay with you and circle back to Elizabeth Warren a little bit. You know you've got a great editorial while we're busy talking I think justifiably about the Native American issue. She is making some strong statements

especially in the news of this past week about reform that has happened and is continuing to be a beacon of reality when it comes to banking reform and finances. I might say the only beacon of reality in the United States watch was Elizabeth Warren who I love to make fun of sometimes but on the spanking issue what she is saying is more important and more pertinent than what the president of the United States is saying you know Obama is really as somewhat of a Rockefeller Republican. Elizabeth Warren is a blue color Democrat and she's not only calling for a return to the Glass-Steagall Act which simply put means you have the conservative you have conservative savings banks that we know of on one side and then you have on the other side of the wall you know The Wall Street pirates and the casino banks that make big rescues but you have them separate so they don't contaminate each other. I don't think she's gone far enough and by the way I wouldn't be surprised if as the campaign comes on she gets to this

these big money center banks the this so-called too big to fail banks need to be broken up. There was a study in England sponsored by the Bank of England the equivalent of a Federal Reserve. Not exactly a radical institution that you know set us the other and said you know beyond a certain point a bank is just simply unmanageable. Not for any criminal in the Farias reasons it's just too big to manage and that's what happened to Che P. Morgan. So Elizabeth Warren is talking sense and you know what I'm surprised that Greta which people aren't listening to are and you know I am not one to get into the gender politics here. But why is it that when women. Make shop contract on the on target. Great criticisms of the logically male dominated Wall Street. Why aren't they listen to listen. Way back during the Clinton years the woman that had

the Commodities Future Exchange Commission tried to blow the whistle on derivatives. Frontline did a wonderful documentary about this. Welp the boys in the White House the boys in the Treasury the boys in the Federal Reserve and the boys on Wall Street ganged up and silenced her. You know Elizabeth Warren is I think a victim of you know not only Republican politics but of sexist attacks. So that's what you know. Let's assume for the sake of argument that Elizabeth Warren is Native American thing you know that the playing field becomes eternal again you know we could talk about Scott Brown and his daughter being on his hello urines and all that but it's an equal playing field. And I've had the opportunity to talk to candidate Warren and when she talks about financial issues she is impassioned and she is right. You know and to me they seem like very conservative ideas you know and I mean conservative in terms of the best part of the Republican Party. What does she need to do to be able to connect with

people around these messages. I mean not just Democrats or Republicans but people. I said this the last time she needs to stop being a professor and I don't know if she can. Yeah. You know guys this is this happened in the dorm in the Dorchester area when she went out there this happened in Revere too and they people were like Ashlee just seems like a professor at certain certain points she turns on the. You know I'm going to tell you what's best for you and I'll tell you in Revere especially that they'll just turn around and walk away because I don't want to tell me that often. That's right that's right. And I don't know that's what she's got to overcome and I remember her telling the Dorchester Reporter I'm going to do. My very best to stop that. You know yeah. You know she has John I mean it's speaks somewhat of the Al Gore elitist issue you know and also the rap that was against Obama being an elite I mean I've always felt that I want elite people to be doing things for me I want you know an elite doctor I want the best and the best. However you judge that

and you know having your son or daughter were a professor you'd be bragging like crazy about it but suddenly having a professor as a candidate doesn't seem like a good idea how does she overcome that gap. I'd say well I don't know that she does but you know practice would make perfect and I do think it's a good sign that she's at least going to these places and talking about not just coming to JPL where she's going to get the votes anyway. I mean that that is important and it's crucial. I hope she's listening as much as she's talking or more that would be helpful too. But yeah I mean some people just have the this the the style issues but put yourself out there. Peter we would be remiss this week if we didn't chat about WFA next in the announcement made last the other day that WFA next after. Twenty thirty years I'm going on you twenty nine years will be going after off the air f an X is part of the Phoenix Media Communications Group of which the Phoenix is part of I'm a former employee I'm a client of that in a full discrete closure

world but it's a sad day for Boston radio and radio in general f annex a great alternative station never one making buckets of money always a labor of love. From my experience for the folks over at the Phoenix. But right now this morning Julie Kramer has been on the air for 24 years did her final show and now looking to wrap it up. Yeah well it's going to be the only good news and that's you know it's ALL THE DAMN good news but the station will be on the air for up to the three months. You know that's about how long it takes the FCC the process the paperwork. Could it happen sooner. I hope not. And you know what. We fought the good fight for as long as we could but the you know operating alone a standalone independent station and the monopoly environment was tough I got to say the New York Times story on this really made me feel good because you know there are the times when they are authoritative

and they they call that you know the legendary WFA yaks. It's also hard you know folks don't understand how the ratings happen. But when your audience is a young adult college audience you know phones with you know in the old days even they you know they weren't going to respond to a survey it was very hard to get ratings. I mean not that you didn't have listeners but as the concerts would prove when you had your show you have a concert and you have more people than you could. And listen people don't realize that you know some people of a certain age realize that you know we were the first station to play Pearl Jam or in the very commercial station with a gay or lesbian radio show thank you then hosted by me and it was also the first radio broadcast that Jerry Seinfeld made back in 1987 he was appearing at a comedy club in Harvard Square and someone from F and X had the wit to book this rising comic on but you know I mean we brought the coup stick music to the

MFA where you know. You know very electronic bands are playing in front of us a cough a kiss you know it's it's it's really sad it's like oh it's like a death in the family and well I'm sure we'll be talking more about it as the most yeah I want to I hope. Well we've been talking local news with John Rood editor of the Jamaica Plain Gazette and Mission Hill Gazette Peter caddis executive editor of The Boston Phoenix. And Seth Daniels senior reporter of the independent news group which includes the Revere journal from local news we're going to talk through the latest in pop culture headlines with our analyst Thomas Conley and Rachel Rubin You're listening to WGBH Boston Public Radio. The.

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age of 63. One of the best singers of the disco era. Her hits included Bad Girls Last Dance Hot Stuff and on the radio. Join us this afternoon to hear on eighty nine point seven. WGBH. This summer you'll count on public radio to keep you connected to stories like that with Mitt Romney all but certain to be the party's nominee. Many voters President Obama is rolling out an economic message that's squarely aimed at college student athletes journalists and fans are getting ready to converge on London to. Help lady 9.7 get to the stories you care about. And give a little bit more and support of a lot more coverage to go above and beyond with an additional gift. Just click the donate button at WGBH dot org. I'm Carol Miller. This week on innovation hub why our schools are failing to train anough students in math and science. Saturday morning at 7:00 here on eighty nine point seven Debbie GBH.

It's rag time a view of the week's pop culture happenings. It's an examination of the salacious the ridiculous and everything in between but this of course being public radio we'll conduct our review with the help of some highbrow analysts are pointy headed as a pop culture. Rachel Rubin the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston Thomas Connelly is a professor of English at Suffolk University Welcome back to both of you good to see you. So we start with some sad news it seems like we've had just a rash of folks from the music industry and recording industry being taken from us too young of course we're talking about Donna Summer. Let's take a listen I know we just heard a snippet of it but let's hear a little bit more of bad girls. And.

Course Rachael this is one of those great multi-layered songs which you know to the quick listen is a disco song about prostitutes or how you want to be a bad girl but with out too much deep scratching at it you can see that there's a whole lot going on. There's a lot there and I think that really is the best thing you can say about Donna Summer By the way we should say a native of Dorchester and a student at UMass Boston. But that that her songs are a lot of fun and they're great to dance to you know that's that's what disco was for. But also they're serious and so bad girls and I'm thinking in particular. She works hard for the money. There are about working women. And so she was you know making party songs about work which I think is just a sort of great way of looking at popular music generally it's a way in which people you know they use the music to make sense of their lives and work is a huge part of that and she was really good at both of those things.

You know the bad girls part about being the commodity herself which she was always very aware of very very aware of you know going back and forth between the subject of the song and being you know with the watcher as well as the walkie and reminding us that that's the kind of work. Right. Yeah absolutely. Absolutely I'm wondering you know. Why do we always have to wait for people to die to do this sort of investigation I mean it's a sort of rhetorical question because I know it's how it is I've been a Donna Summer fan since you know my my teenage years a huge huge fan of papers and college honor and produced a radio show about her had the great you know gift to be able to meet her and work with her and she was just a true you know lived up to everything a fan would want. You know I know these things but I'm always like oh why you know why do they have to die for us to really get that kind of broads. It's true the you know the serious appreciation particularly of a pop diva Idol the likes of Donna Summer forces us to ask what does appreciation mean and being a fan

isn't enough sometimes to take you to the serious level but also it would detract you know from a lot of things that you were just saying about the nature of her songs and and pop songs in general and her her particular presence was so strong in the Diskworld her identity and her voice I don't mean her singing voice I mean her personal voice her whole approach to being a star was was what set her apart. And I think it was so strong that it was a way that everyone just wanted to ride rather than as we were doing right now stopping and thinking about it even though the lyrics and the songs that she made. Lent themselves to that. Yeah and the electronic music I mean the electronic pop that we hear today in clubs Giorgio Moroder and that whole Casablanca record sound was definitely a collaboration too which in those days and even now you know the lead singer female singer over a producer's way you know the producers pretty much rule disco but Donna was very much collaborative with them in

writing songs and directing them as well so. So Rachel I want to talk a little bit too about her on the divas here. Let's take a little bit to someone who will be joining the X Factor it's Miss Brittany Spears here on the Kelly Crossley Show. Well first of all I'm so excited about this whole experience it's going to be so much fun and so different from anything I've ever done and I'm ready to find the truth. She's so excited. Are you as excited. I can't say I'm excited but I'm not. I'm not surprised you know. Christina Aguilera is a judge on one of these shows now and they came up through Disney together and this is like you know you have to say F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong there are second acts in American culture and right now you know they're judging these contests on television. You know this is what Hollywood Squares was for Paul Lynde. You know what you know I read before Jennifer Lopez joined the American Idol judging panel.

So I think that Huffington Post said you know what Jennifer Lopez needs to do right now she needs to become a judge and it seems as soon as she did things started looking up for J-Lo So you know Britney has this huge army of fans that just adore her in the way that Paula Abdul did in the way that J Lo does. Could be a second or third coming for Britney. It's interesting. I mean Second Acts third fourth act. I mean this is you know indicative of the way media works now. I read a couple of articles about this that Britney Spears has seemed even though. She's still a singer and still has millions of musical fans. They feel cut off from her because she hasn't been doing anything to interact with them. And this is the way it is now and they were in the second decade of the 21st century. It's not enough just to be in the movies or on television or sing songs you've also got to be constantly available to your friends fans and they have to know what you're thinking what you're saying. If you're going to fall on your face you've got to do it in public and you know pick

yourself up and admit it or laugh about it or start a lawsuit. But you cannot stay in the studio. And I think that's what has caused her to do this and it's a great career move. Well Johnny Carson has been retired for 20 years and PBS is ready to make him an American master Let's take a listen to what somebody else has to say about him. The great Jerry Seinfeld. You know my entire. Career. I've heard comedians in bars debate over who do you think is going to get The Tonight Show after Johnny leaves. What nobody realize. Is that when you left. You were going to pack it up and take it with you which is what he did. Because that show never existed. There never was a Tonight Show. It was Carson. You know Tom I it's so to me I just thinks I feel eloquently puts it I think back on the Johnny Carson show and there is nothing like it now. Well it's true. But I think it's because broadcast television isn't

like that anymore and even the last couple of seasons of Johnny Carson's reign it was clearly eroding. Johnny Most of the things that we associate with Johnny Carson. He took from other performers the mighty Carson art players. He took from Fred Allen and Johnny Carson if he were sitting in the studio he would say yes I did. He never claimed to be an original what he did was perfect this he didn't he's not an innovator and that's I don't want to be a naysayer but I'm a little standoffish about calling him an American master was usually these shows are about innovators people who have created something. What Carson did was to solidify something. And yes he made the greatest talk show in history. Yes. Television stations all over the world tried to imitate him and failed. But of course they would they don't have the same markets they don't have the same audience. And it is true I mean after he left it wasn't the same. But there still are there are still reverberations and it was interesting Conan O'Brian even made references to the

problems he went through not being able to get into the 11:30 slot and so forth. And even David Letterman made it clear that he still was feeling pain that he didn't take over Johnny's spot. So I think Jerry Seinfeld is more interested in. Identifying himself in the historical mentor of Johnny Carson because that's what he would say made him a star. That's fine but I think Carson is more complicated than just you know the guy who invented the talk show that's that's completely wrong. Rachel you're nodding in agreement. Yeah. I'm more or less I feel that you know what what Johnny Carson really did was sort of bring a kind of you know shucks conservatism out to California at the time when people were going out there to be hippies. And in fact you know many people believe that when Johnny Carson wore a Nehru jacket on the show that that marked the end of the counterculture it was over. It had been commodified package for you know Johnny Carson was doing it and the Tiny Tim waiting with Misfit too and that you know alternative lifestyle forget it.

So you know I wouldn't say that he's not an innovator because he failed to be an innovator but that he never intended to be an innovator was sort of about the opposite of that it was you know much more about him. Sort of solidifying convention and comfort. Yeah I was in it when I think of Johnny Carson show and I think of that. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson I think of reliability. I mean I just always remember getting something you know it would I mean in general television is much more about repetition and sameness right now it is about innovation. True true. If we could play a clip of The Tonight Show theme how many millions of people wouldn't even have to close their eyes to be able to envision this step by step being beat opening of The Tonight Show ending up with a golf swing I mean so conventionalized. Well that was great. I'm not flattered complementing that. Yeah one of the things I'm I'm thrilled about today in our language is the term first world problem. You know I I've I've I'm happy to see the third world was replaced with developing world but I'd gladly bring third world back if I could

use first world over and over again especially when we're talking to our kids. The very starlet Halle Berry. Although you know when I started it's not really. I still think of her as being very very young though. Helly Barry has decided that she's got a first world problem that she needs to bring to President Obama's attention. And that is one of the paparazzi. What are your thoughts on it. Well she's particularly upset about the paparazzi having tried to take a photograph of her child. And you know the thing is I mean I sort of I agree first world problem she's not going to be able to take it to Obama. I don't think but you know the thing that really gets me is you know I just keep thinking of the picture of her showing off her pregnant belly on the cover of In Style magazine. So if you use the child if you use the pregnancy for your own publicity when it suits you then the flip side of that is the people are going to keep taking pictures of the kid right there not you can't just like flip that switch on and off. You know for better or for worse. So it's hard for me to work up too much sympathy

frankly. And also a lot of people are complaining. There are already laws on the books in California doing what she is asking President Obama to do so I mean if she wants this if she goes to a different state. But it is her it's always I think it's always hard. To feel much sympathy for celebrities say all of you know the tyranny of fame I'm shackled by my fans you know it's like what when even Johnny Carson on that show he said the reason I wanted to show business was because I'm shy. I never believe that for a second. But at the same time to Johnny Carson you know he lived a very private life. You know some people do you know some people are successful out there right don't stay right there. You know we've I think talked about Meryl Streep on your last mission on it even Donna Summer I mean you know you look at she's been out of that spotlight. She has a demanding that kind of spotlight but you do move out and keep your business you know in New York or L.A. or wherever you are done you know and be done it can be done. Well one show I you know every now and then a show comes that I have never seen. It's always

exciting to me because I watch so much television and one show that I have never seen in its entirety whole episode is Desperate Housewives and it's come I know it's shocking and it's not for any judgment issue which is that for a while I worked on Sunday nights and then I couldn't catch up and then do I want to add another you know family member to my TV viewing. But we're going to take a listen right now to the trailer for the season finale of Desperate Housewives and ABC next Sunday. You can't give in to blackmail if I don't believe the season finale of Desperate Housewives. I need you to take me to a spin within the mysteriously trouble show me everything I need to work raise my children. What is the season for the next Sunday he said. You see Tom what's happening the series finale Mary it's all over I suppose everybody seen it by now not to my Scheuer spoiler alert to my shame I

have seen every episode of Desperate Housewives that the first couple of seasons were satirical I enjoyed it very much for that. And then maybe for penance or self punishment. I watched it to the bitter end. But in a way the series became a misnomer too because all of the women in the show at one time or another worked outside of the home. They were never to put it you know the traditional pejorative they were never merely Housewives. The show brought up issues of color issues of gender issues of sexuality in a way that shows that network television is able to deal with things in a very broad based way I also found the characters in that show much more interesting than the supposedly cutting edge hip characters on Modern Family I found the development and usage the even the language sometimes much more interesting than what's on Modern Family. But the show definitely time to go ran its course. It was definitely time to get you a fan Rachel. Well I guess I'm very interested in certain things about the show and it does seem particularly at the beginning like it's going to be primarily concerned with the roles of

women. And if you think about the title the over the over the opening credits where it shows different women you know through history sort of doing different things. But I think that by the end of the show the show became about something else and that is suburbia. And you know it's filmed on the set of Leave It to Beaver for crying out loud. Right and the women are always telling each other how lucky they are to have their suburban Idol and how much they want to protect it and. Rotten there actually it turns out to be not so wonderful you know. And I don't know many levels so many levels like every catastrophe you could think of and a few you can't you know. And by the end of it most of them the lucky ones have fled and the other ones are going to be tormented. So I think it was kind of either a bait and switch or an evolution depending on you look at it and it really ends up being a sort of statement on you know on the whole suburban move from a TV making standpoint it was also sort of the openly gay producing show I think it might have been I mean certainly this is happened before. But you know you know there was definitely a gay male stance on that you know has gone

on and it also I mean it's directly responsible for the for the Real Housewives fresh items interesting a drama you know spawning reality shows and it's just the last seconds of the last episode. Definitely we're picking up on what you just said Rachel. It's absolutely a Pandoras Literally there's a Pandora's box as the final image I think I want to have the Netflix the whole thing. We're going out on Booker T in the MT's green onions bassist Donald Duck Dunne died earlier this week this wraps up another edition of rag time a review of this week's pop culture news with Professor Rachel Rubin and Professor Thomas Conley. I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley. I'll be back on Monday to discuss what are Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are facing as more of them come home. The Kelly Crossley Show is a production of WGBH Boston Public Radio.