Michel,
First of all: Wonderful show! While I don't listen live, I haven't missed a podcast since I first found you on iTunes over a month ago!
Now I heard your tirade on Imus in the last two podcasts, and I have to say I am a bit disappointed. I have never heard his show (at least not for more than a few seconds at a time), so I cannot speak from a listener's perspective but I think your outrage at his comments is quite misdirected. What reasonable, open-minded, and progressive thinking people like ourselves should really be angry at is not Imus' comments, not even at his obnoxious persona... (and certainly not at the fact that he can legally make such commentss...) I think what really upsets us is that there is a demand for shows like his out there. Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh and other shock jocks (yes I called Rush a shock!) have said and will continue to say wild and outrageous things on the radio, and people eat it up as readily as they consume poorly produced reality telivision. But that people will continue to avidly listen to an admitted racist or sexist and all of the outlandish comments they broadcast (whether they actually believe them or not) is a sad and disappointing reality.
I think it a tragedy that Imus was fired for his personal free speech on his own show... But the greater tragedy still is that large audiences continued to love this rhetoric, and his ratings hadn't dwindled to nothing before this ever happened...

Sent by Micha Barankin | 5:13 PM ET | 04-17-2007

Congratulations, it was a good show. I must respond to one point that keeps coming up.Every time the discussion turns to WELL WHAT ABOUT RAP MUSIC LYRICS, the very next sentence is always WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING THAT FOR MANY YEARS. I have to say that this would be a great time to change tactics and leaders then, because the only person that has been fired is Don Imus. Not one Rap artist has been fired for these types of lyrics.EVER. Not one record producer has been fired for producing records with these offensive lyrics.EVER. Not one record label has been shut down for selling these offensive songs.EVER. If the people who wanted Don Imus fired are truly serious about changing the record industry, then do something meaningfull about it.They only took 1 week to remove Imus. Now the way is clear to clean up the recording industry .Lets watch the next couple of weeks and see who loses their job.

Sent by Mike Croley | 9:28 PM ET | 04-17-2007

I love the show, but I wish you would continue to break it into segments for the podcast. I listen in small bursts (walking to the grocery store, cooking dinner, etc) and it's tough to keep track of where I was or how much longer a given segment is when it's just a 50 minute chunk.

Sent by Rachel | 8:23 AM ET | 04-18-2007

Yet again a great show! I do have one dispute concerning Don Imus. Many people keep saying that his comments had their origins in the black community. This is simple not true when you look at his comments from a historical context. During slavery, scientific racism was used to justify slavery by showing how inferior black people were. Black women (hos) and men were hypersexualized and our features (nappy) were described as animalistic therefore inferior. Since close to 80% of rap music is purchased by young white males, the question is why are they still holding on to the sterotypes created by their ancestors? The first part of Harriet A. Washington's book Medical Aparthied has an excellent review of the roots of these sterotypes which unfortunately still prevade the American psyche.

Sent by Kimberlei | 12:45 AM ET | 04-19-2007

I agree with Mike Croley. If Al Sharpton and drive-by media can get Al Sharpton fired, why can't they get 50 Cent fired?

Another thing that bothers me is why does everybody emphasize what nice women the Rutgers team is, and how they almost won the championship. What difference does it make what type of women they are? I would hope there isn't one. Calling someone a "nappy headed ho" shouldn't be worse whether you're talking about a basketball player or an actual prostitute.

Then there's this: Several times during the day of and after Imus met the team, the media was at times more focused on that story than THE FACT THAT THE NEW JERSEY GOVENOR WAS IN A CAR ACCIDENT! What kind of world are we living in when the media is more concerned about a racist radio host than a govenor?!?

Haven't listened to the AppleTV thing yet. Seems so far to me to be an Apple version of Tivo...

Sent by Scott K. | 1:00 AM ET | 04-19-2007

I enjoyed the segment very much. As I was listening, one statement stood out in my mind. One of the media professionals in the initial segment spoke to the issue that white people look to black culture "for the next hip thing"(I paraphrase).That statement reveals a great deal about race relations in this country and as such,can provide a beginning point toward much needed conversations.I can recall as a child overhearing teenage cousins complain that "..doin' the Twist ain't fun no more since all the white folks are doin' it." this statement and other such comments from older people instilled in my mind and that of others of my generation,that white culture steals from black culture. This concept was further reinforced first with the rise of Rock and Roll music(rooted in the Blues) and later with Hip-Hop.A recurring theme in all the discussions about the Imus affair has been that there is a reluctance to openly discuss race relations across racial lines. I suspect that it has to do with the vulnerability one feels both in revealing one's true feelings and discovering the true feelings of others.Your show provides us one vehicle to undertake such needed dialogue.

Sent by Carl Foster MD | 5:57 AM ET | 04-19-2007

I'd love to hear an interview with Bell Hooks and/or Patricia Collins on the Imus thing - what's the chances?

Sent by Elizabeth Wheeler | 5:58 AM ET | 04-19-2007

I am very pleased with the segment. I heard more back and forth than i've heard on other shows. It provides a candid picture of the anger and dismay some people feel about this event. I only wish that both black and white people would put this much energy and moxy into pushing the revival and restoration the gulf coast region.

thanks once again for your forsight and critical thought

Sent by Treese | 6:05 PM ET | 04-23-2007

I think there is so much hypocrisy surrounding the media blitz and "crisis intervention" crucifixion of Imus. I never listened to more than snippets of him and that's all it took for me to consider his looney lambastings not the most productive aural fodder for my ears. However, I lived in New York during the time of the "honorable" (yeah right!) "Reverend" Al Sharpton's fulminations in Harlem that helped to directly incite a black man to torch a Jewish-owned business, which resulted in the death of the owner. And as I recall, there wasn't one tenth the outrage from the Black community as there was from Mr. Sharpton's foaming and fuming at the mouth antics which has seemingly made him the modern surrealist incarnation of a black leader. (I use that word in the same way that a lemming might "lead.")

And of course, who can forget the Rev. Farrakhan's gentle words directed at loving the white man. I can go on and on but let's not play this vitriolic race card like a carnival huckster, ok. And that's what seems to have happened here. If not for the horrible business decision it would have been for Imus's employer to retain him (under the glare of growing negative press) Imus's voice would still be booming today. So, who's making money off of Sharpton's booming tirades of social injustice? Hmmm. That's a tough one. I'll let you figure that one out.

Sent by soledad | 9:09 PM ET | 05-01-2007