Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP
Win Rosenfeld
5:47 PM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Inside The BPP
Maybe you heard the good folks from Chelsea Mind Games proctoring the vocabulary smackdown between Mike and Trish on the BPP today. Maybe you even played along at home. It was a fun listen no doubt -- but we love watching our colleagues squirm:
Win Rosenfeld
5:30 PM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Links From the Show
Win Rosenfeld
4:59 PM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Media
All the coverage of Tim Russert's death overshadowed another death in the world of media and politics last weekend.
Tony Schwartz, media consultant, adman, sound designer, and teacher, died on Sunday at the age of 84. Among other things, many other things, he made the now famous LBJ "Daisy" television ad which is widely recognized as TV's first political attack ad. Because of it, he's often considered to be the founder of the modern era of negative campaigning. Yet, though there were obituaries that outlined some of the highlights of Schwartz's wide-ranging and idiosyncratic career, there was little discussion of the impact of this singular and eccentric man in the very media environment he had helped to create.
I never had the privilege of knowing Tim Russert, though I always enjoyed watching him. But I did have the good fortune to have known Tony Schwartz a little bit.
Continue reading "Remembering Tony Schwartz" »
Paul Hechinger
3:06 PM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Sound Off
Today on the show, we talked about the most annoying office jargon. The BBC just published their list "50 Office-Speak Phrases You Love to Hate," and "going forward," "loop back," "I've got you in my radar" and "product evanglist" all made the list.
My personal favorite is "Lets talk about this offline." What does this mean? Are the rest of our conversations "online?" I've noticed that people tend to say this in meetings when they want to discuss something in a smaller group at a later date, but I highly doubt they mean a conversation over the internet.
Caitlin Kenney
2:24 PM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: City Living, Luncheonette
A photograph by NPR New York audio engineer Josh Rogosin published in Time Out.
Josh Rogosin
An illustration of Josh's photo by Sam Ferri.
Time Out
When I read that Time Out was soliciting readers to send in photos, from around town, to illustrate -- I couldn't resist submitting this picture. It was taken across the street from the MOMA in Midtown. The subject had no idea I was taking his picture, but I knew it'd be worth a thousand words. I love it when a still image can tell a story.
--Josh Rogosin
Caitlin Kenney
12:24 PM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Stuff We Love
Quizmasters Jennifer Dziura and Jonathan Lill were on the show today to give us a taste of a vocabulary tournament they host for adults in New York City. The tournament is part of an event called Chelsea Mind Games.
Mike Pesca and I, "Jeopardy!" veterans both, were the contestants. We played four rounds and enjoyed the thrill of victory (synonyms: conquest, achievement, ascendancy, mastery, success, supremacy) and the agony of defeat (synonyms: drubbing, rout, vanquishment, overthrow, debacle, downfall, labefaction) endured. You can listen to the outcome here . And why not play along at home? Answers appear after the jump.
ROUND ONE
You get 3 difficult words. You get one point for using each word correctly and you can get up to two possible additional points for style. One sentence containing all 3 words, if you can.
1.) mendacious, oligarchy and palliative.
2.) panache, expeditious and yeomanly
ROUND TWO
In the following list of four words, three are eponyms or toponyms, and one is a fake. Identify the fake one to win one point. If you need to know what an eponym is, look it up!
1.) All of these are ice skating jumps: which one is not an eponym?
Triple Lutz
Cherry Flip
Triple Axel
Salchow
2.) These are all types of musical instrument. Which is not an eponym?
Saxophone
Sarousaphone
Flugelhorn
Theremin
Continue reading "Brain Fun: Vocabulary Competition" »
Tricia McKinney
9:17 AM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Sound Off, TV
Today on the show, we talked to Slate's Jack Shafer about the coverage of Tim Russert's death. Shafer criticized the media response in a recent Slate piece, "The Canonization of Saint Russert."
"I wonder whether the media grievers gave a moment of thought to how this Russert torrent they produced played with viewers and readers. Did the grievers really think Russert was so important, so vital to the nation's course, and such an elevated human being that he deserved hour upon hour of tribute? I wonder whether any of the responsible journalists paused to think, Hey, this is really weird. We're using our unchecked editorial power to soak the nation with our tears about our friend, and that's unseemly! On days like this, I, too, hate the press."
UPDATE: NBC News President Steve Capus talks to TVNewser about the criticism of NBC's coverage.
"I think it's been appropriate, balanced, loving. With all due respect, nobody can expect NBC to be objective. Tim had a remarkable, unique place in America. I can't think of anyone in our industry who would generate those type of intense feelings."
Caitlin Kenney
7:35 AM ET
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06-19-2008
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Filed under: Links From the Show
China is revamping the names of traditional dishes in preparation for an influx of English-speaking visitors. Goodbye "husband-and-wife's lung slice," hello "beef and ox tripe in chili sauce."
It's the BPP's Ramble
How much do you make? It'd be no secret in Scandinavia / 50 office-speak phrases you love to hate / Seinfeld lawyers see humor, not defamation
Laura Silver
7:21 AM ET
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06-19-2008
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