The 1930s collection examines America’s response to the unprecedented economic crisis that threatened the nation during one of history’s most tumultuous decades — a decade that is increasingly a touchstone for our own. In a series of five films, this AMERICAN EXPERIENCE explores politics and culture during the Great Depression through eyewitness accounts and rare archival footage. The 1930s (which will air locally on WHYY TV starting tonight at 9 PM and runs for the next five Monday nights) touches on themes straight from the 2009 news headlines — beginning with the problems with banking security, stock market manipulation, and […]
ROKY ERICKSON: I Walked With A Zombie
WIKIPEDIA: Roky Erickson (born Roger Kynard Erickson on July 15, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist from Texas. He was a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators and pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre.[1] The Elevators were vocal proponents of mescaline (peyote), LSD, and marijuana use, and were subject to extra attention from police. In 1969, Erickson was arrested for possession of one marijuana joint in Austin. Facing a ten-year prison term, Erickson pled not guilty by reason of insanity. He was first sent to the Austin State Hospital. After several escapes, he was sent […]
WORLD SERIES: Yankees Hotel Foxtrot
NEW YORK TIMES: When they were new stars at an old park, the baseball season rarely ended until they were done playing. Now the Yankees’ core is older, the park is new and the World Series is no longer a birthright. But the stage is theirs again. After a six-year wait, Derek Jeter and the Yankees are back in the World Series, vanquishing the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, 5-2, to win the American League Championship Series, four games to two.It is the 40th pennant for the Yankees, who will host the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of […]
DEENEY: Did DHS Let Charlenni Ferreira Die?
BY JEFF DEENEY Some clarifying details are emerging in the Charlenni Ferreira case, changing the picture slightly from initial reports but still not providing enough information to determine if DHS bares some culpability in the 10 year old girl’s horrific death. It appears now that two school nurses at two different schools picked up on Charlenni’s abuse history and took interventive measures that were ineffectual, as both times Charlenni was seen by doctors who were ambivalent about whether the girl was currently being abused. The first nurse to encounter the girl in 2006 followed standard reporting procedures and contacted DHS. […]
HERSH: Military At War With The White House
THE HERALD SUN: The army is “in a war against the White House — and they feel they have [President] Obama boxed in,” Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh told several hundred people in Duke University’s Page Auditorium on Tuesday night. “They think he’s weak and the wrong color. Yes, there’s racism in the Pentagon. We may not like to think that, but it’s true and we all know it.” In a speech on Obama’s foreign policy, Hersh, who uncovered the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War and torture at Abu Ghraib prison during the Iraqi war, said many military […]
AL FRANKEN: Kicking Ass In The Health Care Debate
Senator Al Franken kicks ass and takes names in this snippet from a Capitol Hill health care hearing wherein he eviscerates — with little more than the simple facts precisely-modulated sarcasm — an insurance industry shill from the Hudson Institute who claims that universal health care in the U.S. would increase the number of people who go bankrupt because of medical bills. The guy is doing the Lord’s work.
RAWK TAWK: Q&A With Alec Ounsworth
[Photo by MICHAEL T. REGAN] Alec Ounsworth will perform tonight at the TLA, opening for Dr. Dog, in support of his just-released solo album Mo Beauty. We spoke with Alec about New Orleans, drugs, South Philly, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and the ambiguous status of Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah. PHAWKER: Where are you living these days? ALEC OUNSWORTH: In Pennsylvania. PHAWKER: Oh OK, you’re still in Philly? ALEC OUNSWORTH: Yeah, I’ve always been there, yeah. PHAWKER: Where does New Orleans figure into this? ALEC OUNSWORTH: It is south of Philadelphia. I’m kidding. You mean how did that […]
MAILBAG: “Leonard Cohen Is Not A ‘Great Man'”
DEAR PHAWKER: Leonard Cohen is not a great man. He appears to have committed criminal tax fraud that I reported to the IRS, probably perjured himself in Phil Spector’s grand jury, defrauded me of millions, and seems to think it’s acceptable to lie in every courtroom he shows up in. There is nothing great about a calculated fraud liar. I am praying that Phil Spector nails him on his probable perjury and I personally will be litigating my own situation against him in the not too distant future. While journalists may be awed by a man who also appears to […]
PHILLIES PHEVER: Stay Classy, Philadelphia
DAILY NEWS: AMID THOUSANDS of screaming, yelling, chanting, flag-waving, whistling, clapping, jumping, skateboarding, chest-bumping, body-surfing, drinking, shouting, photo-taking, texting, tailgating, music-playing fans celebrating the pennant-winning Phillies’ heading again to the World Series, only 49 people were arrested for mostly minor offenses. “That’s not many, considering the size of the crowds,” Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said yesterday. MORE
TONITE: Let It Be
LET IT BE (1970, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, 81 minutes, U.K.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC With their own edition of Rock Band and their recent CD reissues climbing the charts, The Beatles are in the middle of yet another victory lap for the band the continues its iron-clad hold on the pop consciousness. In true counter-programming The Secret Cinema is presenting a rare screening tonight of the film The Beatles never wanted you to see, a myth-busting profile of the group as they helplessly watch their magic dissipate. If you’re a Beatles lover (the least elite of groups) it […]
DEENEY: About Charlenni Ferreira
BY JEFF DEENEY I want to make some quick comments about the case of Charlenni Ferreira, a 10 year old Feltonville girl who turned up dead on Wednesday bearing multiple indicators of a long and horrendous history of physical and sexual abuse. Due to the demands of my social work job I can’t really take the time to put together anything comprehensive today so this will have to do until more details about the case come out.Let me start by saying that I’ve never worked in child welfare, nor for DHS specifically as an agency but I have worked with […]
WHAT HE SAID: Cracking The Nutcracker
EDITOR’S NOTE: Footage from Wednesday’s press conference at the National Press Club wherein conservative muckraker Andre Breitbart, James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles attempt to expose ACORN’s ‘lies’ about what happened in the Philadelphia office. Blogger Mike Stark let’s the air out of their balloon with the three simple questions any responsible reporter should have asked by now — and that includes you, Stu Bykofsky. MEDIA MATTERS: Following the release of what Fox News itself called “heavily edited tape” of conservative James O’Keefe’s visit to a Philadelphia ACORN office, Fox News ran captions stating, “Exposing ACORN: New Video Shows Unlawful Actions.” […]
Asterix & Obelisk Turn 50, Still Kicking Roman Ass
TIME: For 50 years, the small but cunning warrior Asterix and his podgy stonemason pal Obelix have been battling the armies of Julius Caesar in their remote village on the Brittany coast — the only part of ancient Gaul never conquered by the Romans. The latest episode in the pair’s comic-strip adventures will be released in France on Thursday to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Asterix story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo for the magazine Pilote in 1959. The highly anticipated new book, The Birthday of Asterix and Obelix, is the 34th in […]