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Time Sue O'Connell. This is not Kelly Crossley Show it's President's Day. This can mean a three day weekend for a chance to buy a car or a flat screen TV all on sale. Today the stock market the post office and libraries are closed but we are not. We're open and we're here to honor our commanders in chief from honest day to not so honest Baba with a Presidents Day film fest. We'll look at the movies that put our presidents on a pedestal and the ones that knocked them down. The fools who run the nation and the superheroes and larger than life lovers who've occupied the Oval Office from Tinseltown were off to TV land with a look at the local enterprise Karmaloop and its plans to launch a cable network. Up next the presidency and pop culture from the silver screen to the small screen. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh. Another round of

emotionally charged protests is underway it was Sconce in state capital where public workers are fighting the governor's attempts to do way with their collective bargaining rights. The battle is over a budget repair bill that is Shawn Johnson of Wisconsin Public Radio reports could still lean in the Republicans favor while the Bill Miller described. Inside the Capitol Building Republicans have gone majority in the Senate and the state assembly and a Republican governor. They feel like a matter of time before they're going to they're going to be in your mind to do Wisconsin Public Radio Shawn Johnson in Madison his colleague Chuck erm Black meanwhile is tracking another big story in the region. Ice snow and a whole lot of travel disruptions up to one foot of snow has fallen in the western Great Lakes region canceling some airline flights and causing many accidents on highways. Light snow continues in some areas along with sleet

Wisconsin State Patrol Sergeant Gaetano Martino says motorists should be careful. The plows are out you know salting and trying to make sure everything is clean. However you know the public needs to be aware that even though it looks good right where they're at right now it may change quickly. And drastically you know a mile down the road. Martino says winds may pick up and add to drifting. Officials are urging people to stay off the roads if possible. For NPR News I'm Chuck Bach in Milwaukee. Unrest is spreading in Libya and reportedly has now reached the capital Tripoli. NPR's JJ Sutherland is tracking developments from Cairo side of the recent uprising that inspired revolts in Libya and other parts of North Africa and the Middle East. While it's almost impossible to get independently confirmed news out of Libya. Reports indicate that the ongoing uprising against Moammar Gadhafi has spread to the capital city. Unconfirmed reports say gunfire has been heard and some government buildings have been sacked and burned. NPR has heard from Libyans with family in Benghazi that they here security forces have withdrawn from the

city and that is now in the hands of the anti-Gadhafi protesters. Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam made a disjointed rambling speech on state TV early this morning warning of civil war if the protests continue. JJ Sutherland NPR News Cairo. Human rights groups estimate at least 200 people have been killed in Libya's uprising against a leader Moammar Gadhafi. In light of what's been happening in Libya the State Department is ordering all embassy family members and non-essential personnel to leave Libya. It says American citizens residing in the country are being told to exercise extreme caution. We're also being told to limit travel inside the country and the U.S. government is urging American citizens not to travel to Libya and the U.S. markets are closed for the president's holiday. This is NPR News. A new nonpartisan Center is being set up at the University of Arizona to focus on civility and political debate.

NPR's Carol Vandam reports former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush will serve as honorary cochairman of the National Institute for Civil Discourse was created after last month's shooting rampage in Tucson that left six people dead and 13 injured including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The center's board of directors reads like a who's who list former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota will serve as honorary co-chair persons. Board members include former Secretary of State Madeline Albright former chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan Kenneth Duberstein and Trey Grayson director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics. Fred Deval vice chairman of the Arizona Board of Regions and a Giffords friend says the institute is the right people in the right place at the right time. The senator is expected to open today Carol van Dam NPR News Washington. Standing in line outside a government office in Afghanistan cost at least 30 people their lives today and resulted in an unknown number of injuries. Local police say a suicide bomber exploded outside a government building where people were waiting to

get their identification cards. Reuters News Service reports that the Taliban have claimed responsibility. In Pakistan intelligence officials are reported saying a suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least five people in a tribal region near the Afghan border. It is said to be the second strike in the last 24 hours the first killed seven alleged militants. Strikes are the first since late January. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News. Support for NPR comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live healthy productive lives. At Gates Foundation dot org. I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley. My parents always knew I would be introduced to that tune and I'm happy to finally make them proud. This is the Kelly Crossley Show it's President's Day and to mark the occasion we're

hosting a Presidents Day Film Festival and joining me about how our commanders in chief have been portrayed on the silver screen is my friend film critic Guerin daily Guerin welcome back my pleasure and I have to say that you look the part. Thank you very much thank you very much I certainly I don't think that I've ever hired a prostitute so I may not be eligible for office. But I'm hoping. Well you know I'm sure that there are ways that you can compensate I can work on that I can work on that listen if you want to join in the conversation. We welcome you 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 is the number to dial in. We want to talk about your favorite presidential movie your favorite presidential character. And you know what your feelings basically are about how the presidency is portrayed in film 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 will GARING we have a full a full list here. Yeah. Do you have a go ahead. Well you know I think what you know you don't necessarily think of presidential films as a genre. But when you look at it closely. It's almost a

genre it's almost like film noir It's almost like a western. There have been lots of films ever since the big the dawn of film all the way into in recent years lots of films have been made lots of presidents have been depicted in film and there are a lot of fictional press and so it's a really broad area that we can explore right and lately I think it and to sort of bring the small screen in for a little bit there's been a lot of of talk about how the media's portrayal or Entertainment's portrayal of the president may impact society I mean obviously in 2004 we had an African-American president many joked that that that with that laid the groundwork for Obama but it one of the movies we're going to talk about Glenn Close plays a vice president and that was a big deal so who gets chosen for the role as president and how they their character does in the office talks a lot speaks a lot about where society views the president you know that's you know you're right on because when you think about the early period of film

play from like 19 0 5 in 1925 that 20 years. George Washington was depicted a lot but it was all these kind of historical films. George Washington and Nathan Hale. George Washington at Valley Forge. They were really strong depictions of him as a leader. Very very little about his personal life very little about the struggles that he had as a complex human being. It was all about what I what I call myth building where they're building the myth and you understand that the audience at that time is was just not as sophisticated as we are now. So those stories those reenactments is so historical re-enactments really fed a popular culture right that now you compare that in recent years even the last 50 years. When was the last time you saw a George Washington movie. They're just not out there. I mean there was one on TV crossing with Jeff Daniels which is about crossing the Delaware. But George Washington is someone we

stay away from. And I think we're almost sacrosanct we're we're having difficulty trying to imagine the father of our country as a human being and we can't show him as a sister or a reenactment as it would do no business at the box office. But you know Ben Franklin who wasn't president however he always sort of really bubbles under every president portrayed when they're in film and in television I mean you know it's an amazing founding father who sort of keeps the entertainment level high. Well that's because he was very entertaining and he was very personal and he had a glorious. Infamous personal life and he was very smart and there was all these facets to it. George Washington was very stoic I mean it's he's he's not someone who's very approachable. Interestingly enough the most filmed president is Lincoln followed by Kennedy and then you've got a whole bunch you know FDR was done I was done. Teddy Roosevelt Andrew Jackson has been done a number of different times. Even Andrew Johnson and Grover Cleveland. I mean there's some really bizarre

presidents who've been on screen. Well it's obvious why Lincoln and Kennedy are right up there at the top but what qualities do does a president need to be portrayed in the film. I think it is all about timing. And when you look at for instance Lincoln it we're talking about a very traumatic time for the country. And so the drama and the tension that he brings to it. Is something that we can all understand when you look at someone like FDR he was a dramatic president going through a dramatic time not only the depression but World War 2. Teddy Roosevelt was one of the was perhaps the first modern president. So that's very easy to show depict on screen. So when the country is going through a difficult time when the country is going through an economic time or going through a war time I think we look back to these icons these real presidents and create a story around them to somehow deal with our

own uncomfortable in this or comfortable midst with what's going on currently. We're talking with Karen Daley about President in film if you want to join the conversation please call us 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0. Now one of my favorite genres within the genre is the where there's just so much complicated politics and emotion and craziness going on in the office of the president we've got a clip we're going to play a bit of the contender here on the show. This is a movie that was directed by Rod Lurie. Jeff bridges bridges is the the main guy Joan Allen was running for president and it's a thriller about the first woman nominated for vice president let's listen to the contender. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Vice President. Is again a lame answer. The president today is nominated Senator Laine Hanson to fill the vacancy left by the death of the vice

president. Almost three weeks ago. It's a job to you too to make sure that that confirmation gets through. I'm not confirming a woman just because she's a woman is going to command me with all guns blazing. Can we ask for basic fairness to. Keep. Me do have it confirmed that it's her theory. It's like some aspect of. Running and just looking for something. That's what she's putting on a section. 9 You can claim about me is that I had sex what do you think she actually says about Steve trying to. That's the contender from 2000 the trailer you know sort of a great look forward into what sort of politics has become for for many folks just not women. Yeah but look this is one of my favorite films for a lot of reasons first our John Allen is very very good in it and she does play a character who is trying to cut an even chords through these very difficult waters and Gary Oldman plays the senator who is trying to manipulate

her past for his president and his potential future. And so he's using everything he's using anything he can any any any bit of scandal that he can come up with to try and knock her down to build himself up. Meanwhile in the background is this good old boy almost another one of Jeff Bridges is the dude Big Lebowski performances where he's like you know saying let's have a sandwich. And he's like seems to be obsessed with sandwiches. And you're wondering who is this guy is this really a president smart is he savvy or is he a moron. But the fact of the matter is is that he is being very savvy underneath all of this and sets up everything for this big finish. He is that film is a great political savvy film. And there are other films like that that are out there where the president is shown to be a very smart manipulator of the political system. Now in 1995 the American president which is one of my favorites of course directed by Rob Reiner starring looking back on it at a very young Michael Douglas in a very

young Annette Bening. I love this movie because. The scene where Michael Douglas wants to order flowers for Annette Bening but wants to do it himself he doesn't want to be the president sending flowers he wants to just be a guy sending flowers to a woman he's interested in. And for me when I first start it really was a window into what it must be like to just be so separated from the American public that you that you serve. Yeah. And let's let's look at this film and say Not only is a Rob Reiner Michael Douglas and a young Annette Bening But this is written by Aaron Sorkin right. Right. A pre west where you think they're Yeah. And he is so good at telling a story this year with with his film. He'll probably win best writer but he'll you network the social network because he's so good at having a beginning a middle and an end and in this he does a great job of building the character and you get. Also get a insight of what it will be like for a

president to have a romance and then to have again a person who is looking to build his career by tearing someone down. And this case Richard Dreyfus using the president's girlfriend to develop his own political aspirations and looking in the Wayback Machine the 964 Seven Days in May. Yeah it's a film I've not seen but really really looks like it's it's an it could be shown at any time and would be a classic. Yeah. You know that's a very interesting point of departure in the presidential films. If you look back from pre 1960 all the way back to the beginning for the most part I would say like 95 percent of the time the presidents are shown on screen in a very reverential way. There's they're shown as leaders and someone that we look up to but in the 60s starting with like seven days in May and failsafe and Dr. Strangelove that's. Clarity has become very very gray and very very ambiguous. Seven

Days in May tells the story of a very unpopular president played by Frederick March who is being challenged by a military leader played by Burt Lancaster. And it's almost like they're developing a case for a coup d'etat in the United States. And you can see how everything is being manipulated a very prescient film and something I think people should watch these days. It's it's interesting to me that many of the presidents in the films are are either one way or another they're they're you know they're complicated human or they're just completely Teflon. Projections of what we want to president to be or there are kind of dumb. You know I mean there's there kind of it is when you take Dr. Strangelove and I love them. I think its name is Mervyn muffling right. I mean that's not a very strong name. When you think of someone like Independence Day it's the Whittemore at you know the writers come up with names

that seem to personify the president's person whether it's strong or whether it's weak. We'd love to take your calls on this 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 do you have a film that you love that has a president in it doesn't have to be about the president could have a president in IT I'M SOO O'Connell I'm sitting in for Kelly Crossley. I'm sitting with film critic Karen Daley it's a Presidents Day film festival here. We'll be right back after this break. Keep your dial on eighty nine point seven WGBH. If she hit. Puberty.

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Good afternoon I'm Sue O'Connell sitting in for Kelly Crossley This is the Kelly Crossley Show if you're just tuning in we're hosting a Presidents Day Film Festival which has been curated by our film contributor film critic Karen Daly. We're taking your calls What films would you add to our marquee what President would you like to see portrayed on the silver screen. How about James Garfield Benjamin Harrison Gerald Ford Perhaps our drunken president most presidents I mean there's a whole variety. I'm waiting for Franklin Pierce to get his yes right and he is New Hampshire's only president although he doesn't seem to have done very well with history. 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 is our number 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. So my favorite movies are jumping around here. We're going to listen to a clip right now from the president as action hero. This is Harrison Ford

in Air Force One. The president's plane Air Force One has been hijacked. By so forgive this president as a Medal of Honor. He knows how to fight. He has no right to take chances with his life. You're. Going to judge. Me. Because you're used to. Facing the facts of the case. I love this film for so many reasons I you know when I first saw it in the theater I didn't love it as much. But whenever it's on and I see it I can't help but watch it I love Glenn Close is the vice president and she's very good in this and she does a good job and she brings that certain gravity right you want to have from a leader. She did a great job and she does a great job also communicating a sense of fear. Yeah a little confusion and oh my goodness is this happening Gary Oldman I just love in anything. Yeah. And Harrison Ford as the sort of approaching middle age I guess at the time or middle

aged action hero who does what what nobody would ever do. I mean I got to tell you if I was a president and something happened I would get the next car get in that pod that they release from from the plane. But this is really a wall to wall great action thriller. There's a lot about this film that we can talk about. It's interesting that for the most part presidential films don't do a lot very well at the box office. And here is Hollywood taking the action hero concept putting it with the presidential seal and creating an action film about. I mean there's very few presidents that would have the ability to do what Harrison Ford rise. And but we bought it. It did pretty well at the at the box office. The other thing that you can tell that final thing until that final season but we won't give it away in case you're putting it on your show line. But but the other thing to look at is who directed this film. Wolfgang Petersen directed this film. And if you go back through the history of all the films that are about presidents a great proportion of them were directed by foreign directors.

Michael Kerr teas you know Roger Donaldson I mean these are people who didn't were not necessarily born in the United States but were definitely from outside the United States looking at an American institution and creating a film about that. It's an interesting concept. We're going to end it also brought up a lot of discussion about what Air Force One actually can and can't do. Right. Which was something I don't think folks really considered for the longest time. Right it was great. We're going to jump to the phones and speak with Steve in Cambridge. Hey Steve Happy Presidents Day. Thank you to same to you. What's on your list. I may be off topic because it's not. And I would recommend but I'd be curious about your opinions on it. And that is the docu drama made from the checkpoint which kind of imagined the death of George Bush in 2000. Which is also a foreign made film I believe. Those are difficult to really ascertain because again when you're looking at something that predicts how we would react if something happened there was a film

that Confederate States of America which dealt with the idea that the Civil War was a draw and we had two separate states or two separate countries out of it. I mean you can play with it you can talk about it but there's not a lot that will talk to us about what it says about us as a culture. So I would say we shouldn't have that in our film fest. But thank you Steve. Thank you. Happy President's Day enjoy the day. 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 0 is the number to dial another one of my favorite presidential patrols of course is by Morgan Freeman who basically could betray anything I think he could do the telephone book and we'd still be still be loving it. We're going to take a listen to a clip from the 1998 movie Deep Impact United States ambassador to every country in the world the leaders of those nations what I'm about to tell you how much I still have to fight. Now we've been. Planning for the worst so I hope you'll bear with me and listen to what I have to say to ensure the continuation of our way of

life. We've been preparing a network of immense caves and we can put a million people in the. Underground. For two years. Ed. the United States and Russia have been building the largest spaceship. To stop the comet. We'll prevail. We'll. I believe him take the tunnel I'm going. Well if we were facing imminent apocalypse Wouldn't it be nice to have Morgan Freeman sitting there assuring you that our way of life would be assured. I mean that's that's nice I mean I know there's a mall down there I'm sure we'd be fine. Well you know when and you know. I'm not going to touch that OK. But it's interesting that in Deep Impact was also the same kind of concept in Dr. Strangelove where Peter Sellers is talking about well going to the caves after the atomic bombs and what will emerge in only a certain number of people will be able to come out. I mean it seems to be that when we talk about post-apocalyptic world we need to go into the caves.

Yes. Well you know it was true though in Washington D.C. we found in Virginia that there was a resort down there that actually had caves built underneath it so it isn't that far fetched. That's a movie Deep Impact that almost ruined hundreds of careers of folks that were that were in the film I mean was this a Ben Affleck film was he in this No he was in armor. Oh I mean yeah that was the Bruce Willis one and yeah I think they get out on the asteroid and try to destroy it. Another one which has the hero the president as hero is Independence Day in 1996 with Will Smith. Another fun movie that that has all sorts of deep deep character brushes but Pullman does a great job in it. Yeah Bill a Bill Pullman plays a president I think it's Michael Whitmore's. But it's definitely with more in it he plays this sort of. Milk towse wishy washy president until he gets near the end then he makes this dynamic speech and that

speech that concept of the speech by the president is in a lot of films and the American president Michael Douglas does it. You know in Independence Day Bill Pullman does the speech in The Contender Jeff Bridges does the speech seems to be the turning point of the third act. That really wraps all the all the bows and brings them in nicely and we're going to jump to another great category which is depending on your point of view. True or not depending on what year you're in THE PRESIDENT As it is. I never thought I would actually be possible but as a child but it turns out that it could be one of the the great movies of all time. And we'll take a listen to the clip of that is being they're released in 1979. Because you're going to agree with that or you think we can stimulate growth through a temporary sense in a garden.

Growth has its season. First come spring and summer. But then we have. Fall and Winter and then we get spring and summer again fall and winter. Yes admire your good solid sense. That's precisely what we like on Capitol Hill. That of course is Jack Warden who is playing president Bobby speaking with Peter Sellers who's playing chance the gardener who has by chance and by just speaking some simple truth really elevated himself. You know there's a scene in this where his his former housemate who believe was a maid says. He doesn't know anything he's stupid he's as dumb as a pile of rocks but he gets the president's ear and this guy that knows nothing all of a sudden is telling the president what to do. And it really shows the susceptibility that a president has to any kind of influence or any kind of advice that may be really really suspect. But there are

some other great idiot president movies out there. There is any ocracy where I know and I love this. The president's name in this moving this is by Mike Judge came out in 2006 and the president's name is President Duane Elizondo Mountain Dew Hector Camacho a former porn star and five time wrestling Smackdown champion who is now the president of the United States. And that says a little bit about you know where where the presidency may be going. Right and we talked a little bit about Dr. Strangelove. You know for anyone who didn't get an opportunity to see it still remains a great film. Oh it's an incredibly few minutes and it's such a black comedy. And again that's that separation where we start getting away from that reverential look at the presidents and we're starting to look at the real ambiguous which allows us to have the action hero the lover the idiot president we didn't have that back before then so it's only been in the last 50 years that as a culture we're able to look at the president in

different kinds of lights. You know one of my two of my favorites obviously. One is primary colors which I guess is more of a election for an election film but contains a character who is Bill Clinton. And it just really nails that but the other being Dave. My favorite scene in Dave with Kevin Kline and security Weaver and Charles Grodin Charles Grodin and a lot of great scenes a lot of fun scenes in it is the scene where Dave who takes the place of a president who is at a stroke in a coma and I was having an affair with one of his aides was played by Laura Linney. Oh right I forgot that and he replaces the president who acts like the president he replaces the president Franklin Joe is manipulated by strings in the background. And but you know of course like any good film he decides he really wants to be the president and make some changes for the better and brings in his his friend Charles Grodin the

account right to go over the budget. Right because anyone can go over budget and find a way to save money and move forward. And they do and it just seems like such a basic truth that if you could take any small town accountant and let them look at the budget in a transparent way they would be able to find a way to run America better. Well I mean that's what we like to believe. Yes I mean we all like to believe that there are accountants out there just look at this and say oh you guys are just you know you're just crazy. But I think what I love about Dave too is the scene in the Cabinet Room. Where Dave has decided that he's going to try and save a program and so he goes around and asks people these questions how can we save money. What if we cut this out. That common sense is something that when you're looking at film and films that do well people like to see that kind of commonsense come through and the president we really enjoy that. And you can go back to the early myth building films like young Mr. Lincoln. We want our

presidents to be plain spoken and honest and to talk to us. And if they do that common sense we will be much better as a nation. It's one of the myths that Hollywood puts out there about the presidencies. I'm assuming because I haven't been present That's a heck of a lot tougher than that. Yeah I think it is and but it is true that the part where. It's sort of the consequences of the budget cuts and what can you do to combine some other program which is what is basically what what folks are trying to talk about right now in this economic crisis right. That if you eliminate that this will happen so how can we govern somewhere else so it was it was it had a deep part to it. I know I like Dave a lot and I thought Kevin Kline was good I thought was so great he was good. And again the Charles Grodin was great as the account I mean he's just he brings that dead that very deadpan and monotone way of talking to bring it to a nice point. What have we missed what do you think is your favorite. It without sort of looking at the film as a

whole. Well I mean I've waivered presidential. Let's break it down I mean my favorite idiot presidential film is Hot Shots Part Deux. OK. Where Lloyd Bridges plays tug Benson who has got the brain of a peanut but he was an ex war hero and now he's president and he's and he's helping Charlie Sheen who is also has his his name in the paper these days save American democracy. You know Rambo So that's your favorite it that's why is it as it is. Yeah I would say that my favorite action here is Air Force One. Yeah OK. Savvy president there's a lot there's a film called The Wind in the Lion and there's a little bit of a thing and in that film it's a story of a Arab chieftain an emir who has abducted an American woman played by Candice Bergen the Amir is played by Sean Connery. And it's a story about him trying to ransom her.

And Teddy Roosevelt we're actually going to take a listen to a clip from that. The wind in the line. American grizzly bear. Is a symbol of the American character. Strength. Intelligence rushing. A little blind in Rick's attire. The courageous you know now I'm one of the trade goes for you. That Mr. President. Only once. Yeah the lonely president. Yeah they're fighting in the grizzly but this is their this is a film that was written by John Miller's and directed by John Hewson and that's exactly the quote that I wanted to get to or talk about is how Teddy Roosevelt is portrayed in this film as a very savvy political creature and how he uses the media and manipulates the media to create the myth. In other words he's not being created by the movie like in young Mr. Lincoln they're creating the myth of Lincoln. He is taking his actions and creating the myth for the media for himself. It's a it's a nifty little turn around there. What's the world like now for filmmakers if they want to include a

president in their film I mean there's there's so much more we we know now then than we did before I think it would be almost impossible to do. A film to be taken seriously that is a big myth builder without some sort of complex humanity to it. Or is it I mean you know could we do it. A grand sweeping movie about a president without without them being that human. No I don't think so I don't think it would do very well at the box office but I think what we can do is we can do films where we show the president to be politically astute to be perhaps manipulative but has the good of the people at the core because that's really what we want to see. We don't want to go into a movie theater and see our presidents as being corrupt individuals working at the behest of a large corporation or a mega corporation or some other special interest. We want to see

them manipulating the system to help us the common people especially with who are having the time where it's tough economically or we're having a tough tough time perhaps politically geopolitically. Will there ever be a vice president in a movie I mean do you ever think of I mean Dick Cheney I know could carry a film I have no doubt about that. But I mean has there. Never been a vice president that that carried a film or was you know a major role in the film I mean it. I mean the more nice president Ben Kingsley have a role in the the Dave movie and it was kind of it was good it was decent Yeah. And John Allen again as vice presidential candidate but without the president I mean is there I don't think you know I don't think you don't have I mean you know the vice president is not someone we aspire to be out. Tough it is it's a tough job it's a no it's not I don't have a vice president's day. It really I mean I think I maybe should have one we should I think you should begin the campaign through our Vice President's Day. And I think all the listeners of GBH should get on the band Well yeah we'll work on that. Yeah you have nothing else to do. No absolutely not yet.

Well Deron thanks so much for visiting with us on this Presidents Day I enjoyed our presidents Film Festival that was quite exciting. My pleasure as usual to see you soon. Karen Daley of course has joined us we thank you for your calls. We're going to have a great feature up next. It's our Monday feature called Local made good. Don't go away we'll be back after this break. Support for WGBH comes from you and from Harvard Book Store and their author

event series. You can find more details online at Harvard dot com. Harvard bookstore. Probably supporting writers Allman AKh weekday evenings at 7:55 on WGBH and from a Tyrian theater presenting ballet Grand Prix with guest artists Jose Corinne yo and dancers from the Berlin Minsky Scala American Ballet Theater and the winners of this year's Youth Grand Prix March 5th. It's a Tyrian dot org and from NOVA Science now on WGBH to. This week a look at new technologies most likely to revolutionize our lives. Greet the future. Watch what's the next big thing on NOVA Science now. Wednesday night at 8:00 on WGBH too. Western observers look at unrest in the Arab world and look for an Islamic government that can serve as a model. Maybe Turkey church the stability and prosperity itself is the best advice for everybody if they want to get an advice. But Turkey's ability to bridge East and West may not be easily duplicated. The Turkish model next on THE WORLD. Coming up at 3 o'clock here at eighty nine point seven

WGBH. A long commute car trip or just a quick jaunt across town wouldn't be the same without public radio. Then consider supporting the programs you love through the WGBH vehicle donation program. Just call 866 409 3:56. A representative will arrange a time to pick up your unwanted vehicle and take care of the paperwork and you'll support WGBH and qualify for a tax deduction. That number again is eight six six four hundred nine for two for president John Abbott. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting. But the Senate can change that. Call your Senators to let them know how you feel learn how at WGBH dot org. Good afternoon I'm Sue O'Connell in for Kelly Crossley it's time for our regular Monday feature local made good where we meet the men and women who bring honor

to this town through creativity hard work. And today it's a combination of both. My guest Greg Celko is the CEO and founder of Karmaloop a Boston based online street wear company and more of course he's had success with the online retail store and his lifestyle website and now he's moving on to the great digital cable TV network. Greg Celko welcome How are you. I'm great thanks for having me on. What's your favorite presidents movie. I have to say Idiocracy you know that the president Camacho is just unbelievable. I mean I would definitely vote for him. OK. Free free free slurpee for everywhere you go everywhere around. So you know for our listeners can you describe with current What Karmaloop is. It's such a brilliant convergence that really speaks to the generation that. Living and working and selling and buying an interest in being entertained right now but if you had to sum it up for our listeners what's coming up.

Well I would say the Karmaloop is a lifestyle brand first and foremost. And what I mean by that is just like Disney or Virgin have captured sort of the imagination of a certain demographic of people and therefore can go into many different verticals just like Virgin is a record label a you know megastore phone company. Playing you know an airline a spaceship company we feel that for verged culture which I can define in a second. Carmel is the premier lifestyle brand. And you know we started out as a website selling clothing but from the very beginning we always had content as part of the we we were very different than a lot of Web sites in that we had content as a big portion of our website from the very beginning so and a lot of ways we monetize our content the content that's relevant to our culture by by selling products but you know we can do a lot of different things in fact we are we've we have video on the website now where we're actually going to start a cable TV station.

Greg I had a small. An ownership in a small retail website for a very short period of time and it was short because it didn't take me very long to understand that all website business is broadcast and that unless we were committed to having updated content to really bring the website shopper back again and again and again we weren't really going to make it. And it was an epiphany for me I have to say I was dumbfounded that I hadn't realized it earlier. At what moment did I mean obviously it's been since the beginning with Karmaloop but at what moment did you know that you had to do more than just have products for people to buy. Well first of all I was a very good a pity maybe I should be hiring you. But you know it's definitely spot on and I think you know from the very beginning we knew we needed to have content because first of all we didn't have a lot of money. We started out so we had to do things a little bit differently you have a different paradigm and at

the time sort of the popular standard was dumping content on a e-commerce website because it distracts from the buying experience a new pair for me made it clear to you that that wasn't the right way to look at it and I think time has proven that we had a good model and and I think the reason why content so important on a Commerce website in particular if you're selling to. A certain demographic or certain psychographic is that it shows that you really understand the market that you're selling to and I think the fact that we really understood and love the culture and that I understood and love the culture came through in the website I think that really resonates with people. So talk about the verge culture. Is this a kin to the boomer generation or is this something anyone can enter. What is verge. Well I think it's not really akin to the boomer generation is the boomer generation really refers to the entire group of people born during a certain time I think verged culture sort of a subsegment use culture and it's the first generation to have grown up on the Internet.

It's a cut and paste culture it's really reflective of the you know how the Internet works and that is. There's lots of disparate influences from all over the place and our audience can be in the Indian Bhangra music or Japanese and May are hip hop and then they all you know they take that those influences and blend them together and create their own thing. And I think it's a group that is tends to be very multi-racial multi-ethnic. They define themselves more by ideas than anything else. And I think it's exciting group it's really the sort of the Alpha consumers the influencers the people who are shaping global pop culture and they communicate by you know the speed of life online and they're you know they're just as likely to have a friend in Hong Kong as they do down the block in Dorchester. We're speaking with Greg Celko on the Kelly Crossley Show here on WGBH Greg is the CEO and founder of Karmaloop a Boston based. You know I it isn't even fair to call it a retailers retail store online it's a whole

experience for the most I mean it's a community of style it's a media property it's a retailer. I think it really you know it's representative of sort of where we're going anyways I think that you know you're seeing this blend of Commerce and entertainment and lifestyle happening more frequently now as history I think has proven that the media just doesn't die and go away it's not as if the television movies went away when television was launched or radio went away when when MTV came on as as was always predicted. And you're really proving that point now that Karmaloop is moving into the cable television world where there's enough people out there to say television is dead cable is dead. But you really see an opportunity here to expand expand the community in in what some would consider a much more traditional venue. Yeah I mean I think the rumors of cable's demise are greatly exaggerated and that the reality is that cable and the Internet are converging and the TV

the TV and the computer are converging So it's really you know different methods kind of folding into each other and you know it's not it's not a case of one disappearing or the other other dominating it's really just the way media is evolving and I think you know there's still a hundred million households with set top boxes which is you know the cable box in their home. A lot of the new cable boxes have the internet built into them there's a lot of interactivity happening. And you know the cable operators of the NSA as I'm still learning all this jargon so bear with me. They they do great online so there's this TV Everywhere piece you know X vanity Road Runner. So people are watching cable on their computers and I don't think the cable operators really care where you watch the stuff as long as you know they're getting paid but I think you know part of the reason why people pay to get cable is there's a certain amount of vetting that goes on you know not anyone can just throw up like a cable station whereas you know there's millions and millions and millions of websites hundreds of millions that are put up and there's no

barriers to entry so I think there's a certain gravitas to being able to make it up onto the set top box and I think you know Karmaloop you know some of it was luck and some of it is because we've really done a good job. Reaching this demo and understanding this demo but the fact is that you know cable is certainly not going away in fact Nielsen shows that TV watching is up across the board over all age groups in the 18 to 34 age group which is the demo that which are our demo culture is part of that age group is that it's considered so important by Nielsen in terms of TV watching that it's considered more important than all the other TV demos combined. Now Greg you're a local boy obviously that's why we're having our trio Jamaica playing. Why Bonnie and is Boston Boston really the place that you want to grow this company. You know I mean folks would say why are you on the west coast why aren't you. You are right now joining us but you know is this going to work for us is Boston's being the home town to karmaloop.

Good thing for you a good thing for the company. And what did Boston contribute to your success. Well I mean I think Boston contributed a lot to our success I mean I get that question a lot. You're in a fashion business you know Boston has not traditionally been known for their their fashion with you know Patriots jerseys and sweatpants but you know that's a good comp contribution you've given to the world. But I'm just joking but yeah I think Boston is a lot more stylish first of all than people give it credit. You know I think there's a certain stereotypical views of Boston that I don't think you know maybe the movies you see about Boston sort of show. But I don't think it's reflective of where the city is now maybe 30 years ago but I think the you know because of the global nature of technology and the Internet it can really be anywhere nowadays and do a lot of things that you couldn't do before if you were in the hubs of certain industries. That being said you know we are in New York also in the cable station is going to be headquartered in New York the e-commerce portion remain headquartered in Boston and the

world headquarters will stay in Boston and I intend to keep it that way live here or I'm in L.A. right now I'm going to do live live in Boston. And you know part of the I wanted to actually do more of the cable in Boston but unfortunately you know we have some pretty heavy hitting people who are. You know on the cable team one of which is Katie McEnroe and she is the she's the president of the channel and she's the founder of AMC. She's the founder of WE Network she was president of both She was founder of fear net which is the most popular VO Dee channel in history so she's you know integral part of the plan and she lives in New York City and she wants to be there and frankly I think it makes sense for the cable to be headquartered there because TV is there so much TV in New York. But we're still going to do a ton of stuff in Boston we have a studio in Boston certainly there won't be any other cable network on the air that does more than we do in Boston. I mean Boston still our hometown I mean so many of the employees

are from all over the world but they came to Carmel through being students and Boston interns and I think for me to get up every day and do what I do it's more it's more rewarding actually not just the fact that we've been successful we've been able to sort of shape youth culture globally it's also important for me to do it in Boston because it is my home town and I do believe that Boston's best days are ahead of it and there's a lot of exciting things happening here in a lot of changes that are happening and we want to be part of it. So Greg you're a 14 year old breakdancing Brookline kid right. JP But yeah I went to school and mom works for the Taliban. She still does a year day a day I mean break dance or just just hanging out in the streets. What Sylvia. Yeah I'm off to Harvard you go. What brought you what. What made you think of this I mean at what Convergence happened that you said OK I want to have a retail store I'm going to do it online and I want to make it this great community. How did you get to the very beginning of karmaloop.

Well I had that much of a great master plan it didn't really happen quite quite like that but it really happened very organically and it started small and built on itself but basically the genesis of the whole thing was I was working for the city I was working for the Boston Redevelopment Authority and a friend of mine in L.A. and who's still involved in Karmaloop now and is the director of Design of Carmel at the time he had a magazine called decontrol which was like a local Zene that was about electronic music. Hip hop and skating use me lots of different sort of cultural things we are into and there we saw the sort of the deejays the skaters the sort of heroes wearing these cool clothing lines that we really like. And since they were so it was so ubiquitous that these clothing brands were on these people we soon OK these guys had lots of money so let's call them up and ask them if we can if they'll take ads in the magazine so I said hey can you take it and they said no we're broken as that would mean you're broke I see every one of these

people wearing your stuff and they said well that's because those people live in New York and L.A. and they shop at one of the three or four stores that carry our stuff. So it sort of was like an aha moment. Basically we should get out of the magazine business because we're not going to make any money. And to the there's a huge demand or visibility for this clothing but limited supplies if you lived in Ohio University Ohio or Corpus Christi Texas or any place like that you knew about these brands but you just couldn't get them there was only even one store in Boston which was Alston B which is no longer here. That's all these brands so you know we decided look well we'll create a. Web site that sells these clothing brands will use the sort of the magazine format that we were starting to do anyways with the control but we're going to provide universal reach for these really hard to find brands that kids really wanted and I think it worked very quickly because we were getting such positive feedback and excitement from our audience when they were able to finally get these brands that otherwise they might have to drive you know eight hours to

Chicago or something to get get the brands and to be clear we're talking about projected revenues of 75 million dollars a year now. That was like we did last year to 10 so you start in your parents basement trying to find a way to get the clothing to this this group and basically have built this media empire. Yeah I mean we should do about a hundred fifteen million dollars this year in revenue. The yeah I mean it was my wife and I at the time who was my girlfriend we were living in sin on the third floor of my parents house and JP shocking you know terrible. Who would have thought right. But we we were the original warehouse staff and you know so now we have a massive warehouse facility in Ohio that shipping out thousands of orders a day. Originally what would happen is my wife who is in school the time I was working at the B or a we you know I work I love my job to be and I certainly gave it all my effort but then I'd come home and I said I think anyone who used to work in the Bay Area will test that had a lot of energy and ran around the halls with me

xo. I had just lost some energy in the evening right so I come home and I go we'd see the behaviors a few orders with my wife and I might go from there we'd go in the basement we packed them up by taking on the Orange Line the next day three or four boxes and shopping bags stop in post office Square. Male The orders I'm going to work for Greg it's an amazing story and I I'm curious are you prepared. You know soon you're going to be the establishment. Are you already looking forward to what what Karmaloop needs to do to keep evolving. Yeah I mean I think I think one of the things that's interesting about the group that we call into is it's not like 60s counterculture although there are alternative they're not afraid of brands they are in fact they love big brands there's big corporations like Nike or Apple or Red Bull or people like that that they they absolutely love. And I think it's not so much the you know the fact that you're a larger stablish minutes are you used Are you being patronize ing Are you speaking the language correctly are you really part of the culture do you

care about the culture you're part of are you going to promote. People an artist and other things that make up the culture and help give them a platform to express themselves or are you going to try to mimic or ape the culture or use people actors or things like that to try and you know trick people I think that doesn't work and that's not who were about I mean we're a very progressive company and we continue to stay on the cutting edge by genuine responsiveness. Well thanks Greg we look for the network to roll out late in 2011 this year. Yeah we're wrapping up today's local May good I've been speaking with Greg Celko He's the CEO and founder of Karmaloop a Boston based online street wear company. Thank you Greg. He's expanded our march and Austin. We'll see you soon you've been listening to the Kelly Crossley Show I'm Sue O'Connell. You can keep on top of the Kelly Crossley Show at WGBH dot org slash Kelly Crossley follow us on Twitter or become a fan of the Kelly Crossley Show on Facebook. Where production of WGBH radio.