Bücher von James T. Bennett

This book presents an absorbing study of how educational radio, which originated to broadcast weather forecasts to farmers, has become what the Pew Center calls the most trusted source of news for American liberals and a regular in the rogue's gallery of election-year conservative targets.The Nielsen Company reported in late 2019 that 272 million Americans listen to "traditional radio" each week, a number exceeding those who watch television, use a smartphone, or access the Internet. Yet almost from the start, radio has also been flayed as a noise box of inanity, a transmitter of low-brow entertainment, an instrument of cultural degradation promoting vapid popular music, and a medium whose ultimate purpose is to convince listeners to purchase the goods and services incessantly hawked by the advertisers who underwrite the programs and allegedly dictate content. At the same time, an alternative conception of radio existed as a vehicle for education and for cultural and intellectual(and even political) enlightenment. Most proponents of this perspective disdained advertising revenue and sought subsidies from foundations, wealthy patrons, or varying levels of government.The long, winding road of educational radio led eventually to the creation of National Public Radio (NPR), a fixture on the left of the dial that can be seen as either the consummation or corruption of the educational radio movement. Prized by many liberals, especially affluent whites, and disparaged by many conservatives, NPR has become a potent symbol of the political polarization and cultural chasm that now characterizes the American conversation.

This book presents an absorbing study of how educational radio, which originated to broadcast weather forecasts to farmers, has become what the Pew Center calls the most trusted source of news for American liberals and a regular in the rogue''s gallery of election-year conservative targets.The Nielsen Company reported in late 2019 that 272 million Americans listen to "traditional radio" each week, a number exceeding those who watch television, use a smartphone, or access the Internet. Yet almost from the start, radio has also been flayed as a noise box of inanity, a transmitter of low-brow entertainment, an instrument of cultural degradation promoting vapid popular music, and a medium whose ultimate purpose is to convince listeners to purchase the goods and services incessantly hawked by the advertisers who underwrite the programs and allegedly dictate content. At the same time, an alternative conception of radio existed as a vehicle for education and for cultural and intellectual (and even political) enlightenment. Most proponents of this perspective disdained advertising revenue and sought subsidies from foundations, wealthy patrons, or varying levels of government.The long, winding road of educational radio led eventually to the creation of National Public Radio (NPR), a fixture on the left of the dial that can be seen as either the consummation or corruption of the educational radio movement. Prized by many liberals, especially affluent whites, and disparaged by many conservatives, NPR has become a potent symbol of the political polarization and cultural chasm that now characterizes the American conversation.

This book reveals how Democrats and Republicans have contributed to an array of laws, subsidies, and programs that have secured their lock on American politics. It considers the potential for opening the field to third-party candidacies.

The American Founders distrusted political parties. But this book examines an array of laws, regulations, subsidies and programs in American history that favor the Democrats and Republicans and discourage a challenge by any third party.

Here is a fresh look at a political and economic puzzle: why do Joe and Jane Sixpack in the Bronx and Dallas pay taxes to subsidize ballparks for professional sports, despite evidence that publicly funded stadiums don't create net economic growth?

This work assesses, with scholarly scrupulousness and irreverent wit, the ways in which the American male is being blamed, castigated, slandered, emasculated, and just plain harassed for a multitude of crimes and sins because of a single trait: "maleness." From cradle to grave, public policy and the teachings of the groves of the academe are increasingly shaped by an anti-male bias. Chapters examine the ways in which American men and maleness are punished in childhood; in school; in history texts; in language; in the wallet; in religion; and even in recreation.Although the book's tone is often light, the subject is a serious one that the mainstream media often avoids. The Politics of American Feminism debunks dated myths, defends individual liberty against feminist assaults, offers an impious take on the narrow focus of the women's movement, and has as a central premise that not only are men essential to the health of the nation and the survival of the species, but they also have a few salutary qualities as well.