UnrepentantSinner
5th January 2008, 07:40 AM
I know some of you think cable TV or TV itself is a waste of electrons, but C-SPAN continues to provide such wonderful content I can't help but gush effusively about the content it airs daily. Despite being a pseudopolitical junkie, I don't find the hearings and live House and Senate debates as interesting as Washington Journal and Booktv (both of which I've raved about in previous threads). Even if the Vox Populi is the ravings of a lunatic (Ron Paul..., Bush lied, people died..., America is a Christian nation...) I still prefer Washington Journals impariality and balance to the peanut gallery/ambush the dissenter tone of Conservative talk radio.
And then there's Booktv on C-SPAN2 weekends.
I don't read books as much as I should or want to, but at least the recordings of signing tour appearances by authors gives me a glimpse of what I'm missing. Be it crazy Ann Coulter, my dad in abstentia Jared Diamond or people like Marthe Cohen, a spy during WWII who wrote about her adventures in "Behind Enemy Lines", I find a lot to enjoy over the weekend. Sometimes the issue/book being discussed hits home for me like the C/ID debate or church state issues and this morning they aired a discussion of the latter.
Unfortunately I missed about half of it but what I saw of the panel for Ellery's Protest (http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8967&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=No) was very interesting. The host for the discussion was a Jewish organization I missed the name of, and the audience was very receptive to his message and that of fellow panelists Thomas Mann and author Stephen Solomon (http://stephendsolomon.com/). During the Q&A session there was even a dig at IDers and a shout out to Judge Jones.
I'm sure some of you who think that all religious people are woo and stupid will poo poo him since he's still a UU, but Ellery Schempp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Schempp) was absolutely delightful, erudite and for some strange reason - to those of you who think religious people need to be told who stupid and woo they are - was very polite to his Jewish hosts (and obviously was to Stephen Solomon). He's also still very active and committed to the Secularist cause since he's an advisor to the Secular Coalition of America (http://www.secular.org/). He was even named to the Abbington High School hall of fame (though for his works in physics).
I would love to have Ellery Schempp speak at a future TAM.
Oh, and if any of you who read the title and didn't know immediately who I was referring to, please turn your church/state debate credentials in until you've taken the remedial course. :p
And then there's Booktv on C-SPAN2 weekends.
I don't read books as much as I should or want to, but at least the recordings of signing tour appearances by authors gives me a glimpse of what I'm missing. Be it crazy Ann Coulter, my dad in abstentia Jared Diamond or people like Marthe Cohen, a spy during WWII who wrote about her adventures in "Behind Enemy Lines", I find a lot to enjoy over the weekend. Sometimes the issue/book being discussed hits home for me like the C/ID debate or church state issues and this morning they aired a discussion of the latter.
Unfortunately I missed about half of it but what I saw of the panel for Ellery's Protest (http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8967&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=No) was very interesting. The host for the discussion was a Jewish organization I missed the name of, and the audience was very receptive to his message and that of fellow panelists Thomas Mann and author Stephen Solomon (http://stephendsolomon.com/). During the Q&A session there was even a dig at IDers and a shout out to Judge Jones.
I'm sure some of you who think that all religious people are woo and stupid will poo poo him since he's still a UU, but Ellery Schempp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Schempp) was absolutely delightful, erudite and for some strange reason - to those of you who think religious people need to be told who stupid and woo they are - was very polite to his Jewish hosts (and obviously was to Stephen Solomon). He's also still very active and committed to the Secularist cause since he's an advisor to the Secular Coalition of America (http://www.secular.org/). He was even named to the Abbington High School hall of fame (though for his works in physics).
I would love to have Ellery Schempp speak at a future TAM.
Oh, and if any of you who read the title and didn't know immediately who I was referring to, please turn your church/state debate credentials in until you've taken the remedial course. :p