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I'm Calen Crossley and this is the Cali 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 never reached our radar. We're going to look at the news that was and wasn't. We'll be dropping in on 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 going to wring from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with ragtime. A tour of the tabloids and a round up of this week's pop culture. Up next on the Calla Crossley Show from gumshoe reporting to gossip rags. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh. So far so

good be peace not detecting any new leaks from the blown out well in the Gulf of Mexico. The company is testing a new capping operation expected to last through midday tomorrow. But the caps a temporary fix the long term solution involves drilling two relief wells. Authorities say that work may be completed by next month. President Obama is vacationing with his family in Maine this weekend NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that before he left the White House he spoke with reporters about the new cap on the BP oil well. Mr. Obama called the well-kept good news. He said it should either be able to stop the oil flow or collect up to 80000 barrels a day. But he also urged caution. There were a lot of reports coming out in the media that seemed to indicate well maybe this thing is done. We won't be done until we actually know that we've killed the well. And that we have a permanent solution in place. We're moving in that direction but I don't want us to get too far ahead of ourselves. He said The ultimate solution will come from relief wells that are being drilled now. And Mr. Obama said there's

still an enormous amount of work to do cleaning up the Gulf and compensating people who have lost work because of the oil spill. Ari Shapiro NPR News the White House. President Obama is condemning yesterday's suicide attack on a mosque in Iran briefly departing from the diplomatic route between Washington and Tehran. The southeastern town of Don is still reeling from the blast which occurred as Shiite worshipers were listening to a tribute to. The generals and. At least 28 people reported dead a Sunni Muslim rebel group is claiming responsibility. In the U.S. The Labor Department reports consumer prices dipped a tenth of a percent in June the third consecutive drop in as Danielle Karson reports that provided some relief to consumers wallets consumers enjoy cheaper energy bills which push the CPI down last month. Prices for some food items and airline fares also fell. The core CPI which excludes food and energy costs went up driven mostly by sharp increases in clothing costs. So what Terry is an economist with BMO Capital Markets food.

I have not risen for the past two months for example and this report likely reduces the formation fears a little bit but it still doesn't alter the longer term story that inflation pressures are very subdued in the US economy. Most economists agree there seems to be little risk for now of deflation when prices on a broad scale goods homes and wages all drop and that can create a spiral of falling profits and shrinking employment. For NPR News I'm Daniel Carson. But with consumer sentiment dropping sharply in early July U.S. stocks are affected the last check on Wall Street Dow is down more than 200 points at ten thousand one hundred forty five. Nasdaq composite index down 56 to 21 93 S&P 500 down twenty six to ten seventy eight. This is NPR. Good afternoon I'm Cally Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on the week's news with a look at the stories that barely reached our radar. Joining us to talk through some of

the local stories that might have escaped our attention are Sue O'Connell Peter Katz isn't Arnie Arnesen Sue O'Connell is the co-publisher of bay windows in the south and news. Peter Katz is the executive editor of The Boston Phoenix. And Arnie Arnesen is a radio and TV commentator and a former New Hampshire state legislator. So O'Connell and Peter Katz isn't already under some. Welcome back everybody thank you right to be thank you. OK so we have another one of those coming together of hyper local news and national news starting with you Peter because the Phoenix has this great piece by David Bernstein talking about rough seas ahead for President Obama. And I note that on the front page of The New York Times today there's a huge analysis piece saying that Obama's pushing his agenda despite political risk. So here we have under the radar and on the screen at the same time we have beaten by 24 all right with the same narrative So what about this.

Obama who. The very act of being his very act of being elected. They had to show when the incredibly shrewd politician he was seems to be stumbling. I mean the passage of the financial reform package imperfect though it may be is a huge triumph as was the passage of health care. But he doesn't seem to be able to sort of weave together his policy triumphs with his political triumphs. The Republicans have just I must say as loathsome as I find them are technically very proficiency in that they seem to be able to distort. The issue sufficiently to rile up the suburban middle class which is the swing vote that determines

elections. And I think that if the White House doesn't wake up soon everyone's going to be and many people at least in Massachusetts in the way England are going to be in for a rude surprise awakening in the Vampyr when the house truly goes Republican and the Senate might well suit you know the White House is very frustrated because they say gee we've done some things and Peter acknowledged this is important to have gotten through two pieces of major legislation. But yet there's here's the time saying hey he's losing a lot politically and here's David Bernstein's piece saying there's rough seas ahead. Yeah I mean it's the same situation within the gay community with Obama where he has had tremendous success and done some great things for our community but it's still kind of falling on flat ears you know and I think what Obama needs and I'm not the first person to say this is he needs that moment like George Bush had at ground zero when he took the megaphone

and he became everyone's president and said This is what we need to do now. You know certainly having something passed that's controversial doesn't give you that unifying feeling. But you know in terms of how he is able to. Show leadership especially around the Gulf crisis I mean here's something that we can all agree on and he needs to really get mad get passionate. And I think that would make the difference of him being able to communicate the successes and the administration's success to people who would agree with him on the Gulf crisis. Because I I'm listening to the two of you and I'm going Oh no no let me just read you something. Americans 73 percent oppose deepwater drilling. Bad bad. This is a poll that said they just think it was a freak accident. OK that's that whatever's whoever's doing the spinning is so successful at spinning that you would think there would be this outrage there would be this concern. But when you have a pollster that comes up with this number of

73 percent think it's a freak accident then even the Gulf oil leak plug is not such a celebration of what happened because they think it was just a mere accident and just go on drilling. It's I feel for Barack Obama because just this week we not only had the oil leak plugged financial reform passed and Goldman Sachs got slapped with five hundred fifty million dollars. I mean think about it that's a huge trifecta right. And despite that someone sent me an e-mail from Salon dot com and they said Listen to this. Those are the three good news stories right. And here's the result. The economy is still crushed. The Gulf is still ravaged and the damage done by Goldman's derivatives wheeling and dealing won't be erased by a couple of big checks. That was the negative and this is from a progressive you know online magazine that tells you how difficult it is because he is too. And he's got and you know you think about all of the drilling that's been done and the holes that have been abandoned. You know there are things that I'm learning about which

I'm sure everybody else is daily that there are there are there stuff out there that's just plugged in we don't know how long the plug is going to last that's gone somewhere else. And this is a time for the administration to say look at we have a huge problem in Obama to get out there and say Let's hope it was a freak accident but here's the information that we have. But you know as much as I sort of feel that I know he's doing the right thing and I feel confident with him as a president I don't feel confident with him as what we used to say in one business I worked at a given good home office. You know you could be out on the field working you know but if you didn't tell your boss what you were doing it was to no good. So he has to get do a better job giving good home office he's not touching people's hearts. He's focusing on their hands in political decisions are ultimately emotional ones. And I think that's something he and his entourage need to learn and they need to learn that fast you know it's like that study that came out of that what about the no drama Obama narrative. I mean that's what was supposed be a positive that there he wouldn't get drama you get results.

You know how but the results the way through no fault of Obama's. The United States is so messed up at the moment that it's an emotional issue not an intellectual lesson. I agree with you but it's not enough. But what we're living in a very different age where we're living in an age of theatricals. Everything is theater. From what you see on TV to what you what you Twitter to it everything is emotional and hot and fast and quick. And so the coolness seems disengaged. And even though it's not disengaged This is the time we live in. And he needs to figure out if he can't deliver the message that he needs to find someone else I can let Joe Biden go that's right. Joe you might know that you know God is always our right. No letter rob some f bombs and talk off the record and really take some prisoners let the let the people go you know and that's the other side is so full of pit bulls that that we that the that the progressive liberal

generic whatever they are on the other side seem like whatever they are they seem Sylvan Nella and this is not a time when people want a vanilla response because they're so afraid. Alright well I want to move on to something a little bit more hyper local because it is theater as well. I'm one level and so I'm very interested in the details stories that you have about the Donnie McClurkin appearance at Gospel fest and Mayor Benito's response and yeah this is actually a story that the Phoenix broke a couple of weeks ago and we pick it up you know you're welcome. And McClurkin is of course was on the Obama campaign and Obama had the same problem where you've got this guy who is an x gay and then calls him some calls himself OK are you going to claim so-called ex-gay and then he gets up and as you know in the gospel tradition it's not just about singing songs it's about preaching and talking about your experiences. And he often talks about being a so-called ex-gay and the sinning that goes on as a gay that gays he says do.

So he's at the 10th Annual gospel fest it's a big deal it's a big deal for the city it's a big deal for him and you know you know one of the summer concert series and mini knows office books McClurkin without doing any due diligence. And you know we basically find out that. Menino is not going to go to the Gospel fest as a first timer stymies not attended. And my editorial about it he gets a lot of heat from his rivals his political rivals about not marching in the St. Patrick's Day parade which doesn't which excludes gays and lesbians but he does work the sidelines and does go to some parties and they often say well you know that's no risk for him and you know he's not going to lose that vote he's not going to rile anyone. But by not going to the Gospel fest he does. He walks the talk and talks the walk where this is a community where he could lose it at any time. He's not as entrenched as he is with other communities. He is saying to the ministry the African-American black ministry of the Boston area this is wrong that this man has to hear this is wrong what he says and I'm not going to show up. So you know short

of canceling the concert or trying to pull McClurkin off the off the bill. I think you might have been able to do a little bit more outreach within the black ministry to talk about why this is not a good idea. But in the end I think that Menino did the best he could to right the situation he's by no means was this with any malice but more ignorance as one person in his office said to me off the record. Or anonymously rather that it was more that he can't believe that this still happens that there would be someone who would do that and in his office we actually got someone who took blame who was accountable that said it was my fault. I did it. I'm sorry what should be a headline story in The New York Times or someone on a public payroll actually said the buck stops here. So all in all it will happen but it does serve as an educational moment for the straight community in the community of the complexities of being African-American and black being involved in your religion and not being able to be who you are. And also the free speech the free speech issues

which you know the Phoenix touched on in the original story you know they've asked McClurkin not to say what he says. Is that a free speech issue. Yeah McLaren has agreed that he won't. You know here we go. I mean it's I'm I'm reading I recommend everyone read Reverend Irene Monroe piece in bay windows because in the end it isn't Mayor Menino and it isn't even McClurkin it is the black. Mr Wright who support him and so Techmeme this is gospel fest. Very few there are very few ministers that did not want him. Irene didn't want him but most of them did. He's very popular he's very successful he's won all kinds of awards on the McClurkin has and if you see him on paper generically This is a get a great yet despite that one provision that you're talking about where he is so homophobic but that also represents the majority of black ministers in the Boston area if not across the country. And so what. Who is Menino allegiance to. What is he supposed to do. Because these ministers want him. They don't want to reject him. They want

him there and this is a this is a tough road for everyone because what is tolerance. And I'm going to use an example. I just I do Iowa Public Radio and in Iowa there's this huge billboard that was put up by the you know the tea some Tea Party folks that has you know Hitler and oh yeah that are Stalin I Barack Obama and the three faces of socialism even the ones a fascist We will go there. And so the question was should they take it down. And I said no. And they said they shouldn't take it down because that's what free speech is. It's sitting there listening to stuff that's offensive and there's no question that Dani will be offensive to some people but to a lot of the black ministers in the Boston area he's exactly how they think you know that it's a very human row brings up and she did a column for us on this last year is that the sort of gay black gospel is static. Like you go to any gospel choir in America and there's about four or five Queens and if black men weren't involved in gospel there might not be the Gospel we have today so we can

pretend all we want that everybody is an ex-gay or is you know straight or whatever. But if every single gay black man left the Gospel there'd be no gospel. Peter is a straight white guy. I feel so much. Thanks for coming out. PETER Yeah OK. I don't know. Right yeah. We couldn't tell if this is a problem for the black ministers in the congregation and I'm sure it's not the Bay State Banner You know Boston but I'm sure it's not going in the Banner this week. I think you know who I'm off and who will personally I'm very fond of but politically I'm often often critical of I think the mayor handled this about as well as you can and I have to say I've known Tom Menino for I don't know a million years well you know 20 years is I don't know of a person who I don't think he has a prejudice bone in his body and I think when you said earlier that it seemed comprehensible to him you know another political figure I would say that I actually

think it is in copper answer. OK but let me ask politically does that do anything for him I mean I guess he's so safe politically. I mean he you know get up or just say I'm not coming at you know even though it's the tenth anniversary and I might offend some you know what I think that the image of Menino the grassroots image is such that he is making a point of noise going is actually a condemnation. OK all right. Well there is more to come more hot topics for us to talk about on the other side of this break I'm Kalee Crossley. We're looking at local news with Sue O'Connell Peter Katz a set already artisan. And we'll be back after this break stay with us. With the. Above. With

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renewal and help you do so on their fundraising. Learn more at WGBH dot org. I'm Calla Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're hitting the rewind button and looking at the news that went under the radar this week. Joining us to talk between the headlines are Sue O'Connell Peter Katz's And Arnie Arnesen. So O'Connell is with bay windows in the south in news. Peter Katz is with The Boston Phoenix and Arnie Arnesen is a radio and TV commentator in New Hampshire. Before we leave where we were the last conversation about the Donnie McClurkin a gospel fest and Eidos not going. So you set up at the base a banner doesn't have it we checked. They do not have a story yet. The Ok so maybe next week. So off to you Arny. You have an interesting piece about a guy running for office there who is up. Frank about what he wants the state of New Hampshire to look like. OK so let me just start out with three factoids about him now these are actually facts. He thinks Abraham Lincoln was the worst president. He thinks Martin Luther King was a

prostitute chasing communist. And when it comes to who was here first. Well the Native Americans were not well they were. But as he says we came we saw we conquered the bad. Let me introduce you to a candidate in Grafton County for the New Hampshire House of Representatives thank God they only paid them a hundred dollars a year. Ryan Murphy is running for office he's running as a Republican although the Republican Party has disavowed any kind of knowledge or relationship with him but he is running as a Republican. He's part of what's called the American Third Position is a political party that represents the interests of White Americans. And what is so fascinating as he talks about sort of cleansing but not in a racist way but but cleansing the landscape of America I'm not quite sure how you do this in an honest way. What was more remarkable as he talked about all this. Cause I hatred of people other than him. If you didn't have his DNA if you didn't look like him then you wouldn't have a place in America and that include everyone Jews

Blacks Asians Hispanics. The thing that blew my mind was where he works. Yeah yeah right. Isn't this unbelievable. Yeah he works at the Spaulding use Center in Tilton with special needs kids of which a lot of them are multi racial. And I'm I'm I'm trying to imagine what it's like working with him. You know knowing that this is how he thinks and it's got to somehow pervade the rest of his life including his work life. But it's very very scary but it doesn't surprise me that he runs in the state of New Hampshire and let me just share one reason why. Many many years ago when I was in the New Hampshire house we were talking about South African divestment legislation this is when South Africa still embraced apartheid. And I was obviously talking about divestment and one of the legislators pulled me aside and said Arnie Have you ever been to South Africa. And I said No I haven't. And then she said well I have and at least in South Africa they have fat faces. And I said Excuse me. She

said Well at least they're fed. And I got really quiet and I looked at her and I said So this is our billboard shouldn't say Live Free or Die. It should say eat or die. So I just wanna let you know it's we live in very scary times. But this story of this guy running and being so frank about it and writing letters to the editor and feeling quite liberated shouldn't surprise anyone because I think what Barack Obama has done has also helped in a frightening way to unleash a lot of this sort of very frightening response whether it's in the form of this form of racism or even with the whole gun issue. I mean they actually are tied together because people see right guns as the as the line between government and themselves. The more you know. Yeah when we go there I just want to give a quote from him he says if someone says you seem to hate people who aren't white. I say no. So I really can't be a racist because I don't hate them i just want to live around areas that are heavily predominantly nonwhite.

I mean there's really not much conversation they have about I guess it's a little bit coming back to you Peter and you're saying the mayor is just hard for him to recognize that some people may have certain kinds of feelings in 2010. And I think for a lot of people reading about this guy who is running and openly stating his opinions that it might be hard for us to grasp that as well. You know this guy sounds like he's from another planet. Obama's election has sort of brought out the POS of America. Yeah it's a great line that's the best line I've heard. Plus of America and I salute. I think because New England is such a thought based economy when there's so many universities here we forget that there's a real redneck streak that runs throughout New England. I mean look during the Depression when the Ku Klux Klan was resurgent in in the south crosses were burned up and maimed on the regular basis. I mean there is a strong nasty nativist streak that runs throughout you know New England in.

Unfortunately we're seeing it rear its head in New Hampshire at the moment. You know and I don't know if you guys remember the Cosmic Muffin although used to be on ABC and way back in the day and he had a great he used to have this great line that he used to love people who are snobby about their background of their people. In America he said because every single one of us except for Native Americans are here because we got kicked out or we got sold out or we couldn't stay. Country so you know that's the great equalizer of America and I'm I'm interested in you know it would have been great if the conquered monitor had talked a little bit about his immigration status. You know and you know the definition of white he points out that you know Jews aren't necessarily white but there was a crucial moment in American history when Italians in Irish were almost not white. And exactly if that had gone through what kind of nation you know what would racism look like in America what would America look like if the only white people came from from England and not not couldn't be Irish and couldn't be Italian.

I mean it's just a fascinating little bit we have people you know respond to him as he continues his campaign whether or not one of the things we want to tell you one of the things we saw as we just had with the NAACP meeting where they were talking about the Tea Party right. Because they're not not at all Tea Party members are racist. But they've been using a lot of racist epithets. They've verbal black members. Some have some have. And so again it shouldn't be shocking but it's so depressing because it is the POS that we are allowing to come out and that's that's that's not a good thing. Her OK well moving on. Peter this fascinating piece in the Phoenix about be in Boston's community cable channel if you do a reality show This Is It. This is quite shocking. I have to say I thought it was doing well but they had a big fundraiser last year as they spent eighty two thousand dollars and only 18 was raised.

Sort of a drawback. But if they want to go in there and I mean EU piece points all kinds of problems too. Well all we've done is sort of highlight the fact that there are problems there. I know some Boston City Council is somewhat quietly trying to find out it's deceiving because being a man is a great is a great public service they do wonderful programming and what you see on the air is terrific. But inside that sounds like it's a political viper's nest. And because it's a cause i public private agency you know the city helps out in the Emerson College helps out in his foundation grants and all. It's hard to get a handle on but it's it sounds like things are not well there. And the city council and I think the mayor going back to me. I really need to step in

here. Open up the windows ask some public questions and for some reason the Boston political establishment I mentioned the city council is a looking into it but no one wants to make a bit surprising Boston which loves a good political fight. No one wants to kick the offenders in public on this one. What do you think this is a little bit of a sacred cow as Peter is saying. Yeah I think so and I think you know this is all been news to me as well but I drive by in Eggleston the you know the new building and I think oh while that's great it's an egg. Then the commitment to you know urban development and not being in the Back Bay and I think that it has some great some history and I think there's some reluctance. I think the public private part is always problematic. It always is who's responsible for it and is it private is it public who is going to do this but I think that it's got some great city and urban roots and that makes a little bit difficult.

Well what's interesting is Chuck Turner who was not a bashful guy behind the scenes as I understand it is really asking some what's a pertinent he's asking the right questions. But for a man who was not a shy boy he does not want to. You know about it. Yeah but what is that. Isn't part of the problem that this is you know Cup committee AXS TV is is a place where people can you know spout off it's kind of like before there were blogs there was community axil Tolgoi is good for now that's that's what it was. And so people volunteer. Everything is very volunteer oriented except it has money. Yeah yeah that's its dilemma. And we know that the head of it is what is he earning $100000 was that what I saw your article. I was shocked at that kind of money because we really sort of think of it in more of a sort of a nonprofit almost like like almost like almost religious in that people say I should get paid more than $20000 a year because this is about the community. This is about all these people coming in for nothing to

do this because they care about connecting with people in their neighborhoods. And I think that's where there's a sort of a negative connotation with this amount of money that this one individual is getting. Plus he's been around for a long time. And you know after a while Peter that people need to change because they start out with certain strengths. But after a period of time all their weaknesses become more and more apparent and it erodes their strengths and now the question is how do you make change in this organization which is so loosely goosey because it is so volunteer driven. You know that's a very good perspective. And there's a couple points I want to make first of all I understand it's there's a lot of you know volunteerism but this is you know they're doing a really pretty professional job of you know so it's not sort of like you know when people's image of community cable telling this world there where you know if they're way far ahead of that so we're talking about something that you know pretty much looks good. You know they're hitting on the stories of the community. They're doing everything that they're supposed to be doing. So even if all the rest of the stuff that you do you detailed in the story was not going on. I don't understand how they spent eighty two thousand dollars on an event

and only 18000 was raised and that's not a problem somewhere. I just what I don't get. That's seems to be a little crazy in this day and age one would think so. You know bad fundraisers have happened in the past. This is not a game this is a community. You know to I mean that's a lot of money for them to invest and only get $20000 back and nobody says anything so they just go ahead you just answer to Cali because what you just said was This is a very it's very professional. It looks like an incredible product even though it is volunteers it's reach such a high level. I think they actually thought that they had reached such a high level that blowing $100000 or if you $2000 on a fundraiser was something they were capable of doing and no one quite understands you know what you have to be parsed parsimonious it isn't your money it is this this this public treasure. And there we get an I think above not only their pay grade but their their ability to produce the revenues they were looking for just at the risk of sounding holier than thou.

One reason we ran this story is as a public service to call attention to this fact in almost scratching our heads saying we missing something or should this really be going on and what kind of response are you getting. Well we'll find out that's just out. I suspect that it's going to be a lot of people at city hall and Emerson College wondering is this really been going on. It's a complex world and maybe people need. You know to have attention focused on you know when the product is good it's hard to criticize. You know and I think that as everyone is agree BNN has put out very very good product and I think that that just kind of lets you do what you're doing and people are managing by objective and it's not until something dramatic happens like perhaps this fundraiser or just one too many disgruntled former employees or one too many lawsuits and that becomes the tipping point because you know talent is tolerated. But that's the point that I don't forgive. Yeah that's right. All right well Arnie

it seems like the New Hampshire candidates are moving forward to make it quite clear that that gun rights are very important and I was particularly interested in Keli is there a name pronounce I otay. KELLY Well we have we have Republican candidates who have embraced obviously gun rights which is no surprise. I think what's more exciting is when you hear a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate talking about gun rights and that's exactly what's happening because all of a sudden all of these Democrats especially in rural states are saying I have no problem with guns and the NRA is more than happy to provide them with some cash because it turns out that they're now up to I think about 23 or 28 percent of their total revenues are going to Democrats where just a couple of years ago it was like around 10 or 11 percent. So it's it's going to be interesting to see what happens with with the whole gun issue. Can a Democrat say that they're you know pro-gun to be believed by by the constituency. Because most NRA members just don't believe a Democrat could do this. And Kelly Ayotte the problem is

she was the former attorney general. She was the law and order candidate. And how do you be a law and order candidate and allow some of the unbelievably Lucy goosey gun laws to go through that would like let you pack heat in almost any possible setting even if it's inappropriate and foolish. She has gotten criticism for saying that she is not for the provision that would allow people of just gun people down in public but she's saying no it's not over yet. I'm not doing that just trying to. Dear cops I mean that's part of the problem. But but that's that's the problem with the NRA is that there is no sense of moderation and I think that's really. But just to let you know that when we This article was talking about the fact that Democrats are now embracing and trying to sort of make inroads within the NRA what was the Republicans response. The Republicans said they will not be outflanked by Democrats because they are going to do what I have a machine gun summer shoot sponsored by the penny Baker Valley Republican Committee. So there so I figure that what the Democrats need to do is

they need to start offering support for Ph.D.s personal atomic device and you see we have to keep upping the ante. You're here you're ahead of me I thought it was going to be a Howitzer in every back yeah that's right. What happens that's when I always see in every bed coming. Kind of stuff politically resonating with the voters. You know voters are unhappy about a number of things so is this resonating. It's not so much. I think what the issue is is that guns is a logically predominantly rural issue. Yes it's this the suburbs control political destiny the suburbs where the swing vote is. And I think the suburbs tilt rural these days more than they tilt to urban. I know I'm being very dispassionate about that but I think that's why I don't think guns are more than the issue in the suburbs in the city they are because they kill people in the country they are because people have this you know close identification with guns and rural life in the suburbs they don't matta So personally I think a lot of the suburbs a lot of the

suburbanites are brain dead. And I think this is an I sent an e-mail to you not to me. So would you like to weigh in on them then I need to make a confession I'm actually a former member of the National Rifle Association and in 1998 was ranked Seventy eighth in the nation. Why are you confessing Why can't you just say it. Well because I know I'm I'm I'm a progressive. I mean every time. I'm very conflicted about the gun laws. I mean to Peter's point I mean what Peter could have said is that guns really don't kill people in rural areas. I mean you know they kill people in the city and it's a very it is a political issue and it's very complicated. And I don't know. Well. And I would suggest this will be the last time we hear about it certainly before election time. So thanks very much for all of you. We've been talking news with Sue O'Connell publisher of bay windows and South End news. Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and radio and TV commentator Arnie Arnesen. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you. Coming up we're taking a turn from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with a tour of this week's tabloids. We'll be back after this

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dot org. This is eighty nine point seven the U.S. age. Boston's NPR station for trusted voices and local conversation with FRESH AIR and the Emily Rooney show. The new eighty nine point seven. WGBH. It's rag time a view of the week's coverage in tabloids. It's a low brow examination of the salacious to the ridiculous and everything in between. But this being public radio we'll conduct our review with the help of some high brow analysts. Our pointy head of pop culture Thomas Connelly a professor in the Department of English at Suffolk University and Rachel Ruben the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston. Welcome to you both. Hello again. Hi Cali. Talk about a lot of stuff going on where there is dueling weddings on the covers of People magazine and Us Weekly on People magazine. Carrie Underwood the lovely Carrie

Underwood is very happily now married to her athlete husband. And on the cover of Us Weekly Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson announced they're back together. And in Gage Rachel what do you make of this. Well you know if it's a duel it's not exactly a fair duel because I do want to say that people has some more mainstream respectability than Magazine. However those two publications do share one thing and that is that they both pay for articles and photographs and so forth. So this is one of those I think those you know perhaps two rare moments when when popular culture tells on itself because you know marriage was invented as an economic arrangement. And here it is it's an economic arrangement for Bristol and Levi on the one hand and for Carrie Underwood on the other hand. I just feel like every time I say that I want to say that it is still an arrangement that is not available equally to all persons in the United States.

And you know Tom it was interesting because Rachel brings up an interesting point about the commerce part of this because what happens when these magazines get these big gets is that the people come to them. So Carrie gave them permission for to take the wedding which is very important is that I want to have everybody know what it is. And Bristol Palin and announced apparently to her mom Sarah Pailin you know offered the story to Us Weekly. Well I just to me just my inner choking up is just cancels out any of the chuang those two kids are just beautiful. Talk about America's sweetheart. I'm actually I'm so delighted. Really thinking about the chagrin nay rage that Sarah Palin must be going through because it does a lot of what she said and some of the sniping at Levi and also reveals I think a serious rift in the Palin family I mean there much there's a lot more going on in that family than we surmise because if she is letting us know that she didn't let her mother know that's maybe more leave you know. Yeah but you know what. OK then what's the

agenda behind I don't know. No idea I have NO IDEA BUT IT guy and I got to say OK so but Levi said some stuff about Mrs. pale and oh yeah he needed to have to talk about. OK. Talking about getting the walk as we're talking about Sarah Palin now I gotta just put this out here. There are some of these are rumors and you know that's what happens that she's pregnant so that they wanted to for real you know make an honest woman out of her this go around and you know and that's fine. I'm just. That's interesting though because she claims they're not going to have sex again until they're married. Now to me the darkest rumor is that Levi and Sarah had something going on at some point. Oh I don't believe I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't believe it either but this is the level that Sarah Palin is engaged at right now. And thankfully it's distancing her from any White House hopes. Well we'll see because this is her daughter after all so that's different from her she's doing pretty well by herself I just got it to for me what's interesting about this is that Carrie Underwood sort of

the epitome she says We're so blessed to have found each other she's the you know good Christian girl having this you know relationship in this way and here you know as with the equal amount of attention and maybe even more so is a young woman who many would say had gone down the wrong path and you know it's all being celebrated together so it's kind of interesting. Listen if there truly are back together I hope they really are because if not I'd want to kill him myself if I would. I'm serious. No he's not planner I really do. You know I you know for that reason but anyway moving on. I'm really interested in the story as we know Larry King is on his way out and he's announced that he's going. But now what comes out is that his replacement is going to be I think an unusual choice a guy named Piers Morgan. And most people would know him from his judging on America's Got Talent. So before we really talk about this I want to give people just a reminder of Larry King in his element on CNN. So here he is you know bidding farewell I guess here's a piece from him.

Evel was around the historic 11 mission. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin tells us what he thinks he saw. Plus the story behind the close encounters former president. Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter allegedly had. To return to Roswell New Mexico. All right well you got a sense of you know that's Larry King in his element doing his thing now OK so here's a taste of his. It seems almost certain a successor Piers Morgan. OK. America is about families. There are lots of big families in America. But you know you are but like you know as much as faulty many of the much a lot of it was going on. I don't get it. Well Piers Morgan I think a pit in my eyes is what used to be known as cool Brittania or the soft cuddly side of the late 20th century English psyche. And I don't know why

CNN thinks that this is going to corral the dwindling listeners and viewers that Larry King had or how it's going to attract new ones. I thought Katie Couric was a much more exciting choice I think going with this you know middle aged white guy. It's really it's same old same old there's really nothing new I mean right now to demonstrate who he is the showing his interview with Gordon Brown we have is regarded as a groundbreaking interview in England but by American standards it's the norm. Well it only came up because he made Gordon Brown cry when you know it but you know it wasn't it wasn't hard. But I mean my libretto cast Larry King on the lips. So we're used to this sort of thing. Rachel I would like to make Gordon Brown cry. I admired that. I think you know I think that I do think one thing you can see in there is is the I don't even want to say the ascendancy but like a sort of check mark in the ascendancy of reality television. You know this is where they found the guy right to replace him and if you're thinking all right how do we make the Larry King show

it used to be in class dreamily important. You know it used to be someplace politicians needed to pass through you know people would be good for your career to be on it. It hasn't been important like that in a long time. So how do you make it important again you know where is the action on television. It is on these you know judgeships on these you know television shows it's reality TV. So in that sense it does make sense to me that they would choose him. I guess I'm with The Globe and Mail this is a paper in Britain and the headline is to replace Larry King Britain offers its least edgy talk show host. I mean this guy has like blue. I don't I don't even I don't even know that why any reality people would watch him because he just doesn't seem to me to bring anything to the table. But I mean he's not offensive so maybe that's that's the way they want to go. OK well let's talk about some reality TV some real reality TV of the kind that we can recognize. Well is it real reality. OK all right well there's a new development. All right so here's to reset.

There's been an ongoing feud between the Real Housewives of New Jersey and Teresa Jew dies as one of the main people in it one of the main characters the other ones is Danielle Staub who is her stated enemy enemy so let me let you let the listeners hear a clip of Teresa Jew dies who is engaged in some activity that leads Danielle Staub to put out a restraining order on her. You got me to point you to the seeming decision to let me you know I can't I mean. I don't want to call you honey. Is that better. It's. Better that's. Enough. Right so I did. OK so she really is pressing charges now so you know we've seen some serious issues creep into these reality shows. I watched the episode of the show The only grounds would be that as it may well i actually want to pick up on something that to Rachel just said Piers and reality TV I think this show what's happening here in the courts possibly and the end of the hills indicate a radical drifting away from reality TV as we know it and

it's coming back full circle to straight drama. I mean it's seems to me that Teresa is being manipulated into doing these things. Dina a character of one of the housewives left explicitly saying I don't want to have anything to do with Danielle anymore. I mean if Teresa didn't want to start Teresa deliberately. I started at 5 and I was all on her side until I watched her do that and as my wife said I'm glad I didn't go to high school with her. Yeah this was such an obvious you know Mean Girl picking a fight and it's you know she's she has she says she's going to take a restraining order against Danielle. Danielle has to file charges against her and against another the daughter who pulled her hair right. And this is Lynn I think they may have some grounds with the door but supposedly these people sign all kinds of you know pre release agreements and contracts where they swear they will not sue anyone anything anytime anywhere. If this if these things end up in court it's going to it's going to fragment reality TV and shatter it. Oh well Rachel I mean it's going to fragment TV reality TV in show it I mean and

shatter it unless they're supposed to do just this. I mean you know we are not privy to their instructions we're not privy to their you know agreements and and the fact is that you know this kind of catfight. Has always made good television from a certain perspective and I don't think there's any reason to think that anybody who works on producing the show is at all fazed by this. I mean on the contrary I don't I don't see how it could really happen without a great deal of agreement. OK I disagree I think Teresa's gone off on our own I want to live in a live interview with her right after the show. I think this is gone to her head and she thinks she can do whatever she wants. OK well now we brought up the hills so let the hills is an interesting show. OK we'll talk about on the other side I want to give people a little taste of it. For you.

All right. Rachel had a weird ending that people are talking about. Yeah it did. It had a weird ending. One of the characters who has earlier declared that she needs to leave the group to find herself. How's that for sort of a sweet old fashioned term. She gets into the car she drives away she kisses the you know fellow goodbye. She drives off a short distance gets out of the car. The camera slowly pulls back and pulls back to show that the whole thing was filmed on a Hollywood set. OK I wasn't meaning of that. So in essence the show is tipping its hand about the reality of reality TV and saying it's giving a wink. It's saying you know yeah fake and you're never going to know how much is fake. And furthermore the various characters are now going around and sort of laughing at that and saying it could all be fake. You know you don't know you don't have any way of knowing. Some of it is some of it isn't. But we're not saying at this point you know what is your or maybe all of it is you know so. So it is interesting stacked up

next to the Real Housewives because the hills is putting out there this is fake. Even when it's on screen and the The Real Housewives is sort of putting out there right. This is real and carries over. You know what you see on the fake is real even when it's off screen. You know so that's sort of what working at cross total cross purposes there. But definitely there was this big stirring up the pot about this question of reality in reality television does that keep audiences Tom if they know it's fake From what I've read on the comments and all the page's fans of The Hills are furious. I feel you know really vets are really violated by it by all of this. And I'm reminded of that that wrenching scene watching Heidi Montag reveal her plastic surgery to her mother. And I felt my soul being sucked out of my body when I felt a shred of caring about Heidi Montag for a moment. But then I look back at her mother and I say that I said this is just nuts. And another thing to remember is from the beginning of mass entertainment as

we know it in the United States this kind of you know story from ripped from reality has always been a draw even Buffalo Bill's Wild West show was supposedly the story of William F. Cody temperance dramas were sold on the basis that I was a drunk. And now you can watch my redemption. But the thing that's different about the hills and why I think this is going to cause a backlash is it was supposedly real but now it's fake. I think people who watch Real Housewives of New Jersey are happy that oh yeah it really is real it's real or than real because now it's going into the police cars and courthouses and so forth. But with the hills I mean really that show now it turns out gee I guess it was just Beverly Hills 9 0 2 1 0. Minus the numbers in Beverly Hills as if that was it Heidi Montag plastic surgery was enough of tipping your hand about the fake ness of this stuff. Well maybe this is all generational let's say because this is just this is too crazy for me. I can't the Hales thing this makes me insane. Speaking of that let's talk about a movie that's coming out right now about this really typifies our

period of time and this is the trailer to the movie The Social Network which is about the founders of Facebook. We don't know what it can be we don't know what it will be we know that it is quote in federal court. If you guys were the inventors of Facebook. You can take to Facebook Is there anything that you need to tell me in dollars isn't cool. You know it's cool. A billion dollars. I can't wait to stand over your shoulder in which you write a speech. Mark. Your best friend suing you for 600 million dollars. OK. OK do we really care about the founding of Facebook movie. We have to pay I mean the movie I can't say how that's going to be it's I just love listening to the trailer just then you know because it reminds me that the director of the movie he made Fight Club he made seven you know he makes seriously dark like thrillers and it doesn't fit this. This movie's being sort of framed that way even though it's not really that so it'll be kind of interesting to see how that comes up. But how could we not care about Facebook everything's all Facebook now Facebook is the second most common destination on the Internet after Google.

Lady Gaga was measuring her fan success on Facebook political organizing happens on Facebook all of the most important advertising innovations are happening on Facebook. You know it's. It happened so fast like nobody knows what to make of it. That's Facebook not the movie the movie it's not even being Facebook want to allow it to be mentioned on Facebook. Oh really they do not. They won't allow any advertising or any discussion of it. Yeah but that's that doesn't mean anything except the fact that maybe it's going to be a little critical of the makers of Facebook and who cares I'm listening to these people watching these trailers I'm reminded of the the crack smoking kids in traffic who cares these are Harvard kids with a snotty nose longer than Pinocchio. It's revolting to listen to them and watch it. And kids are on Facebook. Couldn't care less about this. This happened in the last century as far as they're going to have to ask you Thomas to find it in your heart to care about kids smoking crack. As a parent can you do that. My kids don't go I do not want I saw them dollar you're probably not the Harvard students I'm going to be right behind Tom when he's buying his ticket to this movie I feel it coming.

Thanks for another addition of ragtime Professor Rachel Reuben at Professor Thomas Connelly. That's our show for today. Today's program was engineered by Antonio only art and produced by Chelsea murders. This is the Kelly Crossley Show we are a production of WGBH radio Boston's NPR station for dues and culture.