NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR “Pet fashion shows, Chihuahua social networking, veterinary antidepressants [and] ambulance-chasing animal lawyers” are just the tip of what Philadelphia-based journalist Michael Schaffer says is a kind of pet-obsession iceberg in the lives of the American middle class. In his new book One Nation Under Dog, Schaffer takes a close look at the $43 billion industry that’s grown to help enable that obsession, explaining how that booming market reflects our evolving ideas of consumerism, family, politics and domesticity. But One Nation Under Dog is no dry industry analysis: It’s a book, as Schaffer explains on his Web site, that’s […]

HELP WANTED: Reading Is Fundamental

Do you like to read books? Do you have an opinion of those books you read? Can you speak English? Do you secretly long to be a pompous-and-opiniated-but-always articulate-witty-and-absolutely-correct-about-everything book reviewer for the metroblog of record in the sixth largest metropolis in the United States of America? If so, drop us a line at feed@phawker.com. Because in these hard times, you need free books — and Phawker needs book reviews that taste great don’t suck. RELATED: The Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and dozens of suburban newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday, making it the fifth […]

NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR Bible scholar Bart Ehrman says that the Gospels are at odds with each other on important points regarding the life, death and divinity of Jesus. In his new book, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them) Ehrman examines how these contradictions affect our understanding of the historical Jesus — and of the authors of the Gospels. Ehrman is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of more than a dozen books, including Misquoting Jesus and God’s Problem. JOHN POWERS: Near the end […]

NEWS CLUES: Like The Medical Marijuana Of Truth

TIMES A-CHANGIN’: Obama Halts Fed Medical Marijuana Raids Supporters of programs to provide legal marijuana to patients with painful medical conditions are celebrating Attorney General Eric Holder’s statement this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration would end its raids on state-approved marijuana dispensaries. Federal raids on medical marijuana distributors continued at least into the second week of Barack Obama’s presidency, when federal agents shut down at least two dispensaries in California on Feb. 3. Holder was asked about those raids Wednesday in Santa Ana, Calif., at a news conference that was called to announce the arrests of 755 people in […]

Q&A: Author & Ex-Inquirer Maverick Ralph Cipriano

BY ADAM BONANNI Jim Beasley looks damn proud on the cover of his book, standing with John Wayne-like swagger atop his desk in his richly-appointed, oak-lined office suite.  He has reason to be.  Beasley and former Inquirer reporter Ralph Cipriano [pictured, below left] have gathered their favorite cases of Beasley’s long, impressive career as a crusading plaintiff’s attorney between the covers of Courtroom Cowboy. Beasley comes across as a hard-nosed, steadfast litigator who exudes charisma and never did believe in the phrase “backing down.”  If you don’t back down in court from Don King, Ira Einhorn, Osama Bin Laden, or […]

NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006

FRESH AIR New York Times foreign correspondent Dexter Filkins reports that the Taliban are waging an increasingly aggressive campaign in Afghanistan — a fact evidenced by a 40 percent increase in Afghan civilian deaths in 2008. Filkins joined The New York Times in 2000. He covered the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2002 and reported on the Iraq war from 2003 to 2006. He recently returned to the Middle East to cover Afghanistan again. Filkins details his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq in his book The Forever War. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 Analysis of last night’s address by President […]