Ave Maria in the Afternoon – December 23, 2024 – Hour 1
We’re reviewing the top segments of 2024. In this hour, Marcus talks with Greg Lukianoff about Cancel Culture and Stephen White about how Neil Postman would view today’s politics. We also share a commentary from Al about politics and virtue.
Classic Kresta Commentary: Should we consider a politician’s religion, or their virtue?
Back in February, during the Republican primaries, Al received a letter from a listener who said he was intrigued by some of Vivek Ramswamy’s positions and ideas, and that Ramswamy’s virtues aligned with his own even though he was not a Catholic or even a Christian – making the obvious contrast with President Biden. How should we consider a politician’s religion and virtue? We share Al’s response in this segment.
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Talking Politics in a World that is Amused to Death
In his classic work Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman shared his concerns about how the pervasiveness of television was changing society. What would he have to say about a world of TikTok, Twitter and Smartphones? Stephen White joins us.
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Sick of Cancel Culture? There is a Solution
Since the year 2000, Greg Lukianoff’s Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has tracked instances of free-speech violations on US college campuses. The numbers back up what many of us suspect: since 2014, there has been a massive uptick in campaigns to investigate or punish scholars for “unacceptable” views, resulting in almost 200 firings and hundreds of other sanctions. This is completely antithetical to what we once believed was the purpose of higher education – to expose one to opposing views and opinions – but thankfully there is a solution. Greg joins us.
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