Bill Carter and "The War for Late Night"

The New York Times introduces Bill Carter's new book this way:

[In] his new book, “The War for Late Night,” Bill Carter, a television reporter for The New York Times, demonstrates that the flanking maneuvers made by crucial warriors on the late-night battlefield were far more complicated and far less malevolent than onlookers assumed. Through exhaustive research and interviews with the major players in this battle Mr. Carter demonstrates that, while the usual oversize Hollywood egos were forming secret alliances and stockpiling armaments, it was NBC that fired the shots that sank the Lusitania. Even as Mr. Leno felt attacked and Mr. O’Brien felt betrayed, and an unruly army of handlers spit invective into their cellphones, the real problem was simple: Unable to decide between Mr. Leno or Mr. O’Brien and fearful of losing either to the competition, NBC executives made a series of short-term moves to try to keep them both.

Read that NYT review here. The New York Times talked with the author as well, in their book review segment. Listen to that podcast here. See also: The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno, and the Network Battle for the Night.

The Thursday, October 21, 2010 Charlie Rose Conversation with Dana Milbank

CHARLIE ROSE: Dana Milbank is here. He is a veteran political
reporter and columnist for "The Washington Post." He is also the author of
a new book on Glenn Beck called "Tears of a Clown -- Glenn Beck and the Tea
Bagging of America."

Over the past few years Beck, a well-known cable television host, has
become a leader in the modern conservative movement. In August he hosted
the restoring honor rally in Washington D.C. which attracted hundreds of
thousands of attendees. I’m pleased to have Dana Milbank back on this
program. Welcome.

Dana Milbank believes that Beck is dangerous. See the full interview here. See also: Homo Politicus: The Strange and Scary Tribes that Run Our Government, Smashmouth: Two Years in the Gutter with Al Gore and George W. Bush, O is For Obama: An Irreverent A-to-Z Guide to Washington and Beltway Politics

Invasion of the Mind Snatchers (On The Media: Friday, 15 October 2010) from On The Media by onthemedia@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Consumers could buy televisions as early as the 1920s, but the medium didn't really dominate American culture until the 1950s - the era of black and white sitcoms, nuclear families and nuclear weapons. Author Eric Burns' new book, Invasion of the Mind Snatchers, charts not only the rise of television but also the social context that birthed it. He says that TV's inventors worried they created a monster.

Listen to the podcast here.

On CNN's Firing of Rick Sanchez from RealClear Politics by Ed Koch, RealClearPolitics

Ed Koch, RealClearPolitics: [...] some time ago Mr. Sanchez invited me to appear on his program. The major question he asked me was whether Jews have a dual loyalty, to Israel and the U.S.? The question was not intended as friendly. I answered it the same way that I had answered the same question by a group of Christian Congressmen at a prayer breakfast when I was a member of Congress. I told them, you never ask that question of Italian, German or Polish-Americans (I should have also included Cuban-Americans) who treasure their ancestry, traditions and the countries from which their ancestors came; you only ask it of Jews. Let me tell you why the security of Israel means so much to many Jews. We know that when Hitler offered in the 30s to allow the Jews to leave Germany, if any country would take them, few countries agreed to accept the Jews and then only in small numbers. Indeed, in 1939 the U.S. under F.D.R. turned away the 900 or so Jews on the SS St. Louis who had earlier been turned away by Cuba (from which country Mr. Sanchez hails; he was not born at the time). F.D.R. refused to allow them to land in the U.S., and even sent a Coast Guard cutter to make sure no one jumped overboard and tried to swim ashore. So the Jews were sent back to Europe, where the majority perished in concentration camps. If Israel had existed then, it would have taken in every single Jewish refugee, no matter how sick or old or incapacitated or poor. Then I said to my fellow Congress members, raising my right hand, and this is literal, "I swear to you, if Israel ever invades the U.S., I shall stand with the U.S." My fellow members of Congress applauded.

Read the full piece by Ed Koch here. See also: Mayor: An Autobiography, Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City (Columbia History of Urban Life)