October 17th Show
In our first hour, we will come to the defense of the f-word. Yes, THAT f-word. The mother of all curse words. So impressive that we can actually say "mother" before we say the word. Personally, I reserve using the f-word for the most dire circumstance, keeping it in my back pocket for those times when I REALLY need to drive a point home. But cursing as a whole does seem to have it's place. Curse words give oomph to all the words that surround it. And you instantly command attention when you blurt it out...for better or worse. But there are those who call cursing just plain linguistic laziness. A cover up. Proof that one who peppers their speech with expletives actually has a very limited vocabulary. Steven Pinker is a Harvard psychology professor, linguist, author and defender of the f-word. He'll talk about an article he recently penned for The New Republic entitled, "Why We Curse. What the F***?" So why DO we curse? And can't you think of at least one occassion where that curse word was really the ONLY word that worked? Following that f@#!ing conversation, Ken Rudin will be here to talk about tonight's Democratic debate in New Hampshire, what's been going on with Senator Larry Craig, and what Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize award means for the Democratic Party.
Michael Krasny, host of KQED's award-winning radio show "Forum" will join us in our second hour, He's written a book entitled "Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life" about his life in public radio, the art of the interview and how he went from dreams of writing the great American novel to instead interviewing great writers. Following Krasny, we'll answer questions about the drug-resistant bacteria called "Superbug MRSA" that has most recently claimed the life of a 17-year old student in Bedford County, Virginia. The bacterium causes potential life-threatening bloodstream infections and reportedly infects more than 90,000 Americas every year. We'll talk with a doctor about why it's spreading faster than previously thought and the possible ways we can keep ourselves protected.
Enjoy today!
11:50 AM ET | 10-17-2007 | permalink
