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The Author’s Corner with Kathryn Cramer Brownell
Kathryn Cramer Brownell is Associate Professor of History at Purdue University. This interview is based on her new book, 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News (Princeton University Press, 2023). JF: What led […]
Song of the Day
RIP Cindy Williams
“Sing a Song!” Bob McGrath and American music
I lost myself last night following every link in historian Kathryn Ostrofsky‘s essay on the late Sesame Street actor Bob McGrath. (It was a wonderful distraction from grading blue books!) Ostrofsky shows how McGrath brought “old music” to a new […]
Bob McGrath, RIP
Another piece of my childhood is gone. RIP, Bob! Here is The New York Times: Bob McGrath, who played the sweater-clad neighborhood music teacher and general advice-giver on “Sesame Street” for almost half a century, died at his home in […]
CNN cancels “Reliable Sources.” Brian Stelter is out
Too bad. Reliable Sources was one of my favorite CNN shows. I tried to watch it every week because host Brian Stelter often had thoughtful guests, including scholars, on the show. I especially enjoyed his critiques of Fox News during […]
What is happening these days on Russian TV?
A lot of pro-Putin propaganda. Olga Khazan is watching so we don’t have to. Here is a taste of her recent piece at The Atlantic: To get a sense of what Russians are told about the war, I fired up […]
It looks like Mike Richards will replace Alex Trebek as Jeopardy! host
Who is Mike Richards? (No, this is a different Mike Richards). Here is a taste of Cynthia Littleton’s piece at Variety: “Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards is in advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures Television to become permanent host of the venerable quiz […]
Should we blame NBC for Simone Biles’s withdrawal from competition?
Richard Zoglin makes a compelling argument in a recent op-ed at The Washington Post. Here is a taste: Is NBC to blame for Simone Biles’s Olympic withdrawal? I am overstating the case, of course. But to understand Biles’s decision to […]
Is it time to bring back “School House Rock?”
I learned the preamble to the United States Constitution from watching School House Rock on Saturday mornings. (I often break into the “The Preamble” song when I cover the Constitution in my lectures). Historian Paul Ringel wants to revise the […]