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...
RIP Cindy Williams...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
I have not seen a single episode of Ted Lasso, but after reading Zac Davis’s piece on the show at America I want to start watching it. Here is a taste: Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis, who just took home a...
Say it ain’t so, Brooke! Watch: I wonder if she is leaving because of this....
“Lou Dobbs Tonight” was the highest-rated show on the network. Here is Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy at CNN: Lou Dobbs, the longtime host of the signature right-wing talk show on the Fox Business Network, was canned by the network...
