The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices. The Yukon Gold Rush. Is there still a place for objective journalism -- or is it an anachronism?
The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices
Four great men, sometimes allies, sometimes rivals, are portrayed in Noah Feldman’s “Scorpions.” Feldman, a prominent legal scholar and Professor of Law at Harvard University, has taken over five years to compile this historic narrative of four of America’s most influential justices: Felix Frankfurter, Robert Jackson, William O. Douglas and Hugo Black. In this sweeping new group biography, the author recounts how their clashing personalities and philosophies played out during the Roosevelt era and argues that the judicial philosophies encompassed by the Roosevelt justices, continue to give meaning to the Court’s terms of debate today.
Guest:
Noah Feldman, author of Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices
The Yukon Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush is well known and much studied but the Alaskan Gold Rush is far less talked about. In his new book The Floor of Heaven, bestselling author Howard Blum tells the story of the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush. He recounts the history through a series of real-life characters ranging from Charlie Siringo, cowboy turned successful businessman turned Pinkerton detective, Jefferson "Soapy" Smith who epitomized the frontier "confidence man" and George Carmack, the prospector who precipitated the great Alaska gold rush, married a Native American, and pursued his prospecting dreams to the Klondike.
Guest:
Howard Blum, author of The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush
Is there still a place for objective journalism – or is it an anachronism?
From Glenn Beck to Keith Olbermann, from Rachel Maddow to Fox News there has been intense focus and debate on the spin of broadcast journalism. Some argue that journalists should admit their biases and not pretend to be impartial. Others insist that they should aspire to the traditional standard, as outlined by The New York Times' Editor Bill Keller: "Impartiality is not just a matter of pretending to be neutral; it is a healthful, intellectual discipline." Even if the goal of objectivity is not entirely attainable, should media outlets strive to achieve the standard of objective journalism or do away with the pretense all together and advocate for a point of view?
Guests:
Eric Alterman, Distinguished Professor of English, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, a Professor of Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.
Geneva Overholser, Director of the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California