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...
television
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...
A Catholic take on Ted Lasso
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...
Brooke Baldwin is leaving CNN
Say it ain’t so, Brooke! Watch: I wonder if she is leaving because of this....
Fox Business News cancels “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” Where will Trump evangelical Robert Jeffress go now?
“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...