Light On Light Through

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 33 - Memo To Networks: Tell Us Which Candidates Are Raising Their Hands! - in the Presidential debates that you're televising, that is ... when you ask a question that requires a show of hands - such as, do any of you not believe in evolution? - how about telling us who raised their hands?  (Brownback, Huckabee, and Tancredo did in Thursday's Republican debate) ... Plus flashes ... Digg almost melts down after removing articles about some code ... shout-out to Heroes for its superb Five Years Gone time-travel episode ... Try GoToMyPC free for 30 days!  For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast  Helpful links: Memo to MSNBC: Tell Us Whose Hand Is Up my blog post Three Republicans Who Deny Evolution  and First Republican Televised Debate more blog posts from me Post-Mortem of Digg's Flirtation with Death my blog post ... other reader-directed systems: http://reddit.com and http://netscape.com and http://stumbleupon.com and http://fark.com Heroes Five Year

With gas at the pump going for over $3.00 a gallon here in the New York City area, I thought it would be a good time to revisit me and my Prius, which was the subject of the very first episode of Light On Light Through back in October... Welcome to Episode 32 of Light On Light Through ... My Sweet Prius, Part II ... in a nutshell: I'm delighted with the mileage - about 40 mpg - even though it's less than the 60 mpg advertised, I'm really enjoying getting podcasts through my Bluetooth connection and listening with the windows rolled down, and it's nice driving through the countryside in quiet mode ... highly recommended!  Like science fiction? Jump into my short story, The Other Car, in which a Prius is a bridge to an alternate reality     Plus flashes ... with the May TV sweeps about to begin, a mini-TV-roundup of the best of the new golden age of television:  Lost, 24, Rome, The Tudors, Heroes, The Sopranos ...   Helpful links: Nine Reasons I Love My Prius my new blog post Prius and the Reunion of Talking

Welcome to Episode 31 of Light On Light Through ... in which we discuss what it means when a Presidential candidate's favorite book is I .F. Stone's The Trial of Socrates ... It means John Edwards loves history and philosophy, has intellectual daring, is concerned about what can go wrong in a democracy, is an opponent of censorship, and a friend of diversity and tolerance ... When was the last time we had a President with such qualities?  John F. Kennedy? Plus flashes ... Jack Thompson at it again with his nonsense about videogames ... NBC was wrong to air the Virgina Tech killer's tape... Try GoToMyPC free for 30 days!  For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast  Helpful links: my blog post about Edwards and Socrates ... John Edwards' Favorite BookJohn Edwards' web siteI. F. Stone's The Trial of Socratesmy blog posts about Jack Thompson and about NBCI go head-to-head with Jack Thompson on CNBC last JuneThe Silk Code podiobook - my award-winning novel, read by Shaun Farrell, available free -  at h

Four Imus Fallacies ... Welcome to Episode 30 of Light On Light Through in which we consider four fallacies that have been bandied about the media regarding the firing of Imus from his television and radio shows, which was well-deserved ... the language of rap ... the Duke lacrosse players ... Anne Coulter, Rosie O'Donnell, and other celebrities who traffic in insult ... the First Amendment ... I'll explain why none of those issues or people have relevance to Imus ... Plus flashes ... freed British sailors have every right to sell their stories to the media ... O'Reilly and Rivera knew just what they were doing when they lost their tempers on television ... And a special treat ... a new home demo from England's James Harris ... Walking On Air ... Try GoToMyPC free for 30 days!  For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast  Helpful links: my blog posts about Imus ... No Place for Imus in the Media, Memo to Michelle Malkin re: Don Imus and rap, The Day after Imus: What Doesn't Need to Be Done, Four Im

The Tudors and Rome: Golden Ages on Television ... Welcome to Light On Light Through Episode 29, in which we consider how the revolution in television which began with The Sopranos has given us captivating new windows onto history, first with HBO's Rome and now with Showtime's The Tudors ... afraid to portray neither complex ideas nor sex, these programs make enjoyabe contributions to our understanding of the past and the ways it has shaped us... Plus flashes ... now the FCC's going after cell phones ... Josh Wolf free! ... the Supreme Court does the right thing about global warming ... which might be reduced, in part, up on the roof ... Try GoToMyPC free for 30 days!  For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast  Helpful links: my blog posts: The Tudors Commences - History So Colorful You Can Taste It and Rome Returns and Concludes on HBO my blog post:  Up on the Roof: The Power of Biology on the Tops of SkyscrapersThe Silk Code podiobook - my award-winning novel, read by Shaun Farrell, available f

Welcome to Galactica Dylan ... Episode 28 of Light On Light Through ... Battlestar Galactica started brilliantly this season, faded in the middle, but concluded last Sunday with more than one astonishing twist ... including Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" ... but if BSG takes place in the past, how could this be ... and if takes place in the future, how did one of the most covered songs in rock 'n' roll history get out there?   This episode of Light On Light Through considers these questions and provides ... more questions, along with some brief musical treats... Plus flashes ... HBO's Rome concludes, and it's better than Shakespeare ... Lost has a Canterbury Tales-like episode ... and panda paper out of China (you can't make this stuff up) ... Try GoToMyPC free for 30 days!  For this special offer, visit www.gotomypc.com/podcast  Helpful links:Galactica Dylan (my blog post) ... Bear McCreary's explanation of the Dylan song in BSG (he did the arrangement) ... How Star Trek Liberated Television  (trust

Cops Cracking Down on Journalists ... Again! Welcome to Episode 27 of Light On Light Through ... While Josh Wolf sits in prison in California, New York City police are pursuing their own war against journalists ... arresting two Columbia University journalism students this past Thursday for videotaping police cars from a public sidewalk ... I call upon Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly to see that justice is served ... bring these cops to justice! Plus flashes ... media drop the ball on John Edwards reporting ... Al Gore never claimed he invented the Internet... Helpful links: Columbia Univ students thrown in jail for doing their assignment my blog post; Class Assignment Lands Two Students In Jail New York 1 News story; The War On Journalism website with details and videos of past police misconduct against video journalistsPreserving Freedom of Expression in America 60-minute video hosted by Howard Vicini about Josh Wolf (first broadcast March 16, 2007)Media Drop the Ball in Edwards Reporting and

Welcome to The Four Phils... Episode 26 of Light On Light Through ... in which I interview actor and screenwriter Mark Shanahan about how he came to write and star in the Edgar-award nominated radioplay of The Chronology Protection Case based on my novelette of the same name ... my fictional NYPD forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato is the hero of this story ... and Mark and I talk about his and other renditions of Phil ... a rare, behind-the-scenes interview about the making of a radioplay... Plus flashes ... update on Josh Wolf, the imprisoned journalist ... my modest proposal for this political season ... and "wiki" makes it into the OED - how about a Wiki-OED?... Helpful links: Details on Phil D'Amato - his appearances in short fiction, novels, movie, and radioplay ... The Lives and Times of Dr. Phil D'Amato Listen to The Chronology Protection Case - complete, live, radio recording - free Howard Vicini with updates on Josh Wolf Blog post by me: Supporting the Best Candidates in Both Parties More of me

Free Josh Wolf ... Episode 25 of Light On Light Through ... there's not much light in the California prison that holds Josh Wolf ... his crime?  refusing to turn over videotapes of a violent demonstration that he was using to make a documentary ... Josh Wolf, 24, another victim of Congress's refusal to enact a Federal shield law to protect journalists who do the people of America's work ... details in this special episode Plus flashes ... Connecticut foolishly cracks down on MySpace ... Wikipedia violates its own ideals and cracks down on pretender professor ... and, yes, Daylight Savings Time is here and I love it! Helpful links: Complete details about Josh Wolf: http://www.joshwolf.net/Judith Miller quotes me in her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (at the end): http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1637&wit_id=4698Blog posts by me: Yay! Daylight Savings Time - 03.10.07 Connecticut Going for the Easy, Ineffective, Unconstitutional Way to Protect Children on MySpace - 03.09.07  Free

Welcome to Episode 24 of Light On Light Through ... Gore Back On Center Stage ... he won the popular vote for President of the United States in 2000 ... he was nominated last month for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in alerting the world to the dangers of global warming ... and his movie An Inconvenient Truth won the Oscar last week for best documentary ... we examine the contributions of Al Gore and look at what may be next for him... Plus flashes ... the RIAA on the warpath again ... study finds college students are narcissistic - is that so bad? Helpful links: Two of my blog posts about Al Gore: Gore Nomination for Nobel Prize Poetic Justice and Gore and Obama The Silk Code podiobook - my award-winning novel, read by Shaun Farrell, available free -  at http://thesilkcode.blogspot.com or http://podiobooks.com http://artofgraciousliving.com Patsy Terrell's podcast - Patsy does the wonderful Light On Light Through - Blubrry id   The Plot to Save Socrates  published in trade paperback February 20 - this me

Welcome to Dummy in the HOV Lane ... Episode 23 of Light On Light Through ... in which we semi-seriously consider the case of man who was pulled over on Long Island, NY for driving with a dummy passenger in the HOV lane ... why would a sleeping person, a quiet person, a dullard-type dummy be ok, but not this life-like dummy?  How about a dog, a chimp, or a snake plant? Plus flashes ... lowly bacteria to the rescue again - they can make buildings more earthquake resistant ... Lost sinks further downhill ...Battlestar Galactica is diving ... and what's wrong with those Academy Award people - not letting Borat speak on Sunday night... Helpful links: Read the full blog post for this episode: Dummy in the HOV LaneMore about helpful bacteria: Hail the Mighty Lowly Bacterium ... Paul De Kruif's The Microbe Hunters ... and my novel, The Consciousness Plague...The Silk Code podiobook - my award-winning novel, read by Shaun Farrell, available free - is now up and running, with the first five chapters over at http://the

Welcome to Episode 22 of Light On Light Through ... Lost: Anatomy of a Loss ... in which we look at what went wrong with this tv series which galvanized audiences with its experimental story telling and viral marketing the first season, put people to sleep or got them frustrated in the second season, and now, despite a good resumption this February, is struggling to stay afloat... Plus flashes ... actually, just one big, bad one this episode ... the FCC's at it again with a report circulating in Congress that calls for extension of government regulation of television programming ... Helpful links: Unveiling http://PaulLevinson.net - my new nightclub blog, over at Rudius Media, which has podcast players for all four of my shows - Light On Light Through, Ask Lev, Levinson news clips, and Words and Music by Paul Levinson - plus videos of many of my tv appearances, reviews of my books, a blog I write to usually a few times a day, a Message Board where you can talk to me, and a lot more... other Rudius bloggers i

Welcome to Episode 21 of Light On Light Through - How To Research Ancient History for Science Fiction ... I gave a talk on this topic to the Science Fiction Society of Northern New Jersey at the Garden State Plaza Borders Bookstore this evening ... but for all the people in the world who couldn't attend, my two secret ingredients are old Encyclopedia Britannicas (1955 or earlier) and new sources on the Web (quadruple corroborated)... Plus flashes ... Hank and Jack Bauer ... MSNBC Countdown Board goes ballistic over my critique of Keith Olbermann (because of his attack on 24) ... Lost's recovering ... and iTunes and the Beatles... And the early-Beatle-like James Harris with a nice home-demo of his song Tonya McCreary... Helpful links: http://paullevinson.blogspot.com my blog posts on many of the flashesMSNBC Olbermann Countdown Board ... for some reason, most of the posters there don't like me...http://www.myspace.com/jamesharrisacoustic you'll love ithttp://artofgraciousliving.com Patsy Terrell's podcast - Pa

Welcome to Episode 20 of Light Light Through - Blockbuster, Netflix, the Web: The Future of Watching Movies out of Theaters.  It all began with Edison's kinetoscope, which gave movie-viewers a one-on-one experience.  Now, after a century of theater going, more and more people are watching movies on their own devices.  But not all of them are equal.  Blockbuster, which has dominated this market, still makes you go out in the rain to return a movie.  Netflix is better, but still leaves you hostage to the mailman.  That leaves the Web - and nothing succeeds like delivery of movies at the speed of light... And debuting in this Episode, a new LOLT feature: flashes ... in which I give quickie takes on media news.  This week:  the media are most to blame for the Boston cartoon terror scare ... Viacom the doomed dinosaur snarls at YouTube ... Yale prof disapproves of student sex in showers (well, ok, sometimes I'm make an exception and consider a story which isn't media news)... Helpful links: A Short History of the

Welcome to Episode 19 of Light On Light Through in which we consider How Goes the Ship of Free Speech? The ancient Greeks called it parrhesia, and loved it so much they named ships after it.  How is the ship of free expression faring in our world today?  Well, here in the U.S.A., as we near the anniversary of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during Superbowl halftime several years ago, the answer is: not so good.  The FCC has levied record fines against broadcasters deemed to have presented objectionable material.  Both parties in Congress have cried out for larger fines, and extension of FCC control to cable.  All of this in the face of our First Amendment, which clearly says "Congress shall make no law ... abridging freedom of speech..."  The one bit of good news?  We have podcasting, which so far has been beyond anyone's ability to control... And speaking of podcasting, and looking at the bright side, I talk about various projects I'm happy to be involved in with Shaun Farrell, and Tee Morris, at the

Welcome to Episode 18 of Light On Light Through - Keith Olbermann, Jack Bauer, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge ... What do these three have in common? Well, last Tuesday evening, Olbermann delivered a diatribe about 24 and Jack Bauer, as perhaps deliberate tools of the Bush administration to frighten the American people about terrorism, and thereby shore up support for its policies.  I say Olbermann misunderstands how people enjoy fiction, and recommend to him and his producers an acquaintance with Coleridge's "willing suspension of disbelief".  I also recommend Thomas Jefferson, for his confidence in human rationality and his distrust of anything that smacks of calling for censorship... Helpful links: Olbermann's attack on 24 - don't know how long the link will be upColeridge's Biographia Literaria - where he discusses "willing suspension of disbelief"24 Season Premier (first 4 hours) - object of Olbermann's irehttp://paullevinson.blogspot.com - more from me on this topic Enjoy... Paul web: http://paullevinson.i

Hello Solar System - What on Earth Are They Doing to Poor Pluto? - and welcome to Episode 17 of Light On Light Through, where we consider the semantic fate of Pluto, standing vigil at the edge of our solar system, recently demoted to dwarf-planet status by the International Astronomical Union... Who should decide the status of Pluto: scientists in disagreement among themselves, or humanity? Michael Burstein joins me for an interview.  He is an award-winning short story science fiction writer, a former secondary school science teacher, and head of the Pluto Is A Planet organization. You'll also hear a few bars of Alpha Centauri, a song written in March 2000 by Pete Rosenthal and me. Helpful links: http://www.plutoisaplanet.org/ and http://mabfan.livejournal.com/ (Michael Burstein's journal) http://www.claycenter.org/astro February 4th live debate about Pluto at the Clay Center in Boston Is Pluto a Planet? Historical Journey Through the Solar System - good background reading by David Weintraub Neil deGrasse Ty

Welcome to Episode 16 of Light On Light Through: diGGin' Round: Further Adventures in Gate-Opening, in which I take a look at Digg, the fabulously popular online news system, in which readers not editors choose what is on the front page.  Like Wikipedia, Digg (for the most part) is run by its users.  Like Wiki, Digg suffers from vandals on the one hand and zealots who bury stories too quickly on the other.  But at least Digg and Wikipedia are honest and open about how their articles are chosen - unlike the New York Times, for example, which says it publishes "all the news that's fit to print," when in fact it's publishing all the news that a small group of editors deem fit to print.  The Beatles were turned down by 26 record companies before someone had the sense to sign them.  So much for experts and editors.  Good for Digg for trying something different... (See also Digg and Wikipedia: Further Adventures in Gate-Opening.) In addition to looking around Digg, I also had the pleasure of making guest appearance

Happy New Year!  And welcome to Episode 15 of Light On Light Through:  The Stuff of the Cosmos ... Carl Sagan, who died ten years ago at the end of December, said that, because we come from the cosmos, when we look out at the cosmos with our telescopes, we are but the stuff of the cosmos looking back at itself ... in this New Year's podcast we explore the meaning and impact of Carl Sagan's thought, including his dual pursuit of knowledge and fame ... and we look at the need of our species to get beyond this planet and out into the cosmos, our truest home... Also in this episode: a medley of our music from our podcasts since October (which was the beginning of Light On Light Through), including samples from Idris Elba, Ebony Moore, Jeffrey Foucault, and B J Cunningham - look at the show notes for previous episodes, for details about where to find and hear more of their music. I'll be back again next week, in 2007.  In the meantime, enjoy... Paul web: http://paullevinson.infoblog: http://paullevinson.blogspot.c

Happy holidays! Episode 14 of Light On Light Through is mostly about food ... in particular the revolution in convenience and delicious eating being brought about by places like Trader Joe's ... I talk not only about the great food you can get there, but about hearing Wolfman Jack on the radio while I was shopping at Trader Joe's ... Also in this episode ... the Mo' or more is about YouTube again ... Time Magazine picked everyone as its "person of the year," in large part because YouTube has made video producers of us all ... just as I was talking about in Episode 10, Every Eye's A Camera, Every Ear's A Mike here a few weeks ago ... you can still catch that episode of you like ... and in just the past week, YouTube has demonstrated a different kind of value to the world: It made almost immediately available the uncensored rendition of Saturday Night Live's hilarious Special Treat in a Box skit by Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake from last week. NBC, as per usual, was too afraid of the FCC to play it unbleep