Reason Article About The Transportation Security Administration; Willie Brown's Legacy; Edison And The Electric Chair; The Twilight Zone
Reason Article About The Transportation Security Administration
Guest Host Patt Morrison talks with James Bovard, author of Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evilfrom which this article is adapted.
Willie Brown's Legacy
The Mayor of San Francisco is termed-out and will be replaced by Gavin Newsom on January 8th. Willie Brown's career in politics spanned many years before his two terms as San Francisco's mayor. Guests Bill Boyarsky, senior Consultant at the Center for Governmental Studies in LA and a lecturer at USC, and Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle's city hall reporter join Patt Morrison to discuss the man, his legacy and what he will do after leaving office.
Edison And The Electric Chair
Author of the new book, Edison & the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death, Mark Essig joins Guest Host Patt Morrison to discuss the race to define which electric current would take hold in America: alternating or direct currents. The inventors Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse backed direct and alternating currents respectively, each wanting theirs to be the one used to power America. The battle came to a head over the current used for the new, "humane" way to execute criminals--the electric chair. Edison powered the electric chair with alternating current, thinking that people would see how dangerous it was and use his direct current to power their homes . . . but that is not what happened. We use alternating current today. Join the conversation to find out why.
The Twilight Zone
Guest host Patt Morrison discusses why "The Twilight Zone" remains so popular and enduring with Susan Lacy, producer and director of the "Rod Serling show," and creator and executive producer of the "American Masters" series.