NPR Weekend Edition Sunday shills for tRump

[Hortensis]

6. I'm with you in your general disgust for cable and

and broadcast news in general. The "evening news" shows particularly have been so badly degraded that, instead of being an important adjunct to democracy, at best they fail their role and at worst they endanger it.

But not at all, I'm afraid, with public radio and television. Their mandate is very different, to provide information and exposure to the various viewpoints in play at any particular time. It is not their job, for instance, to tell people racism is evil or good but rather to build understanding of our world by providing information on race as issue from a wide range of viewpoints, from cool-eyed statisticians to implacable religious slavery advocates. Whether guests "hang" themselves depends on the perceptions of each listener.

What you see as "timidity" in part arises from the same challenge as that of college professors I've chatted with here in the south--how to tell truth without causing minds to slam shut and losing listeners, which of course has happened more and more as polarization grows. A real tightrope.

In any case, my own kitchen radio here in deep south Fox country is, courtesy of modern electronics, usually tuned to the same NPR station I listened to back in California. But I'd turn it on for a wide variety of good music never heard on local stations as well.

Thank you for mentioning the Moth Radio Hour. I'd never heard of it but will enjoy checking it out.