So, about last night? Who knew that . . .

... Weekend Edition Sunday host Liane Hansen possesses a wonderful, comedic stage presence?

photo: Marie Adele Christopher

Here's what I mean.

If you're honest, I'm betting that the first thought that crosses your mind when you meet someone you've listened to on the radio is: Oh, so that's what you look like.

Last night at about 8:05, Liane Hansen took the stage at Blackfriars Playhouse, sat herself down, got comfortable, gazed out at us and said: Oh, so that's what you look like.

It was the first of many, many laughs with which she gifted us during the next couple of hours.

Liane Hansen doesn't give talks; she tells stories, ranging from the harrowing to the comedic. The harrowing included the tale of hearing that her husband (Neal Conan) had been captured by the Iraqi Republican Guard in 1991 while covering the Gulf War for NPR. She told of the days of uncertainty; spent as worried wife bent on professionally reporting her own family crisis. She refused to run with unconfirmed news, even though other news outlets were bandying inaccurate information about with abandon. Her message for us last night: At NPR reporting a news story means the information must be confirmed by two independent, reliable sources. NPR may not be first; but it is accurate.

Liane Hansen came on stage holding a sheaf of papers, NPR's talking points on managements'-- shall we say -- little foo-foos, the Congressional funding debate, and other delicate subjects about which we curious listeners might be -- well -- curious. It was, she said, the first time in her 35 years with NPR that they sent her out equipped with what to say. Liane then promised that if someone asked a question that was covered in those talking points, she'd first read the answer and then tell us what she really thought. Then, with perfect comic timing, she added that maybe she'd hold off on the what-she-really-thought part until after her retirement at the end of May.

Later, someone asked her to read the talking point with which she most disagreed. Liane proceeded to sit on the stage and read the talking points to herself in a stage mumble, frowning, rejecting, turning pages, while our chuckles grew into guffaws. At just the right theatrical moment, she closed up the talking points and said, "Would you mind terribly if I didn't?"

You probably had to be there to really appreciate the comedy of this little bit of theatrical business, but trust me, it was was very, very funny.

photo: Marie Adele Christopher

Liane Hansen spoke to us for about 40 minutes, then answered questions for an hour; and yes, she talked about Juan Williams, Congress, NPR management, as well as the past, present and future of NPR journalism.

Diane Halke, our Development Director (and the person we all have to thank for last night's wonderful time) asked me to introduce Liane Hansen last night. In preparation I e-mailed Liane and asked if there was anything in particular she'd like me to say. She e-mailed back just to "speak from your heart, or head, or soul, or whatever."

So that's what I did.

For the head part I listed a few of Liane Hansen's accomplishments, including NPR-related ones and the fact that back in the mid-eighties she'd worked as an archivist in London's acclaimed Maybox Theatres, where other duties included babysitting Princess Margaret's coat and serving coffee to Sir Richard Attenborough.

But it was while addressing the heart and soul part that I really got down to what I wanted to say about this remarkable woman. As someone who went to high school when women were deemed too delicate physically and mentally for full-court basketball, Liane Hansen symbolizes to me the full-court press the women of our generation executed upon all those “traditionally” male professional bastions.

Liane Hansen not only took on the news business, she got to the top of it. Her life is many things, among them a gift to other women.

I don't know about you, but I will miss her participation in my Sunday mornings.

High sounding vacuity vs. well-sourced information . . .an unabashed plea for support of the latter!

As I've mentioned before, my husband Charlie is always handing me books or magazines and saying, "You need to read this." And eventually I do because, usually, Charlie picks good stuff.

This morning's mandated read was a Greg Walter essay published in Philadelphia Magazine sometime in the 60s called "Snow Job at Valley Forge." It tells the story of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, which was founded in 1949 as the "overnight brainchild of an advertising genius named Don Belding." This foundation described itself at the time the essay was written as "the rallying ground for Americans to preserve those ideals and God-given rights against Communism ..."

"Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge," writes Mr. Walter, "has been enormously successful in propagating its version of the American Way of Life." He goes on to let us know that . . .

In case anyone is unclear as to just what the American Way is, the Credo is set forth on a giant monument just inside the cluster of neo-Colonial buildings on a hundred acres of land abutting Valley Forge State Park. Carved in marble are such articles of American faith as the "Right to bargain for goods and services in a free market" and the "Right to freedom from arbitrary government regulation and control." These are matters of deep concern to the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. As a matter of fact, one would be tempted to say that Big Government and the threat of socialism are the greatest concerns of the Foundation. The Credo, for example, does not concern itself with civil rights or other such mundane matters.

Remember this credo was written more than a half-century ago. But, is it just me, or do those tenets sound as though they came straight off the website of a contemporary conservative think tank -- say the now-defunct Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), founded in 1984 by reclusive billionaire David Koch, brother of billionaire Charles Koch, and son of Fred Koch (who was a founding member of the John Birch Society). In 2003 CSE merged with (the now-defunct) Empower America to form FreedomWorks, whose concerns are clearly laid out in its logo shown below.

Hmmmmm, how exactly do those concerns translate into policy, I wonder? Or does that not matter as long as somebody says something that makes us feel better during these troubling, baffling times?

So why am I writing about this particular topic at this particular time? Well, for very WMRA-centric reasons, which are exemplified by one small sentence in Greg Walter's excellent essay.

The Freedoms Foundation organization has, from its beginnings, given well publicized awards to folks and organizations that promote its vision of freedom.

One of those early awards went to  the Reverend Frederick M. Meek of Boston for constructing the following sentence:

There is a Mayflower waiting in this generation for the Pilgrim passengers who are willing to set forth on other perilous voyages of the spirit into the unknown. 

"High sounding vacuity will usually win hands down at Valley Forge," comments Greg Walter.

And increasingly, it seems to me, everywhere else as well, and that's what I really want to talk about. It seems to me that, these days, a lot of what passes for national debate on important issues isn't well-sourced opinion that asks us to think, but is instead "high sounding vacuity" that tries to manipulate our feelings.

To me, public radio in general (WMRA in particular) is one of the few remaining high sounding vacuity-free zones. And I so want WMRA, as Star Trek's Mr. Spock puts it, to "live long and prosper" as part of our community's conversation

As I'm willing to bet you've suspected, WMRA is climbing onto the "endangered organization" list -- think of us as the Giant Panda of your radio dial. Pending any change of heart - or wording - in Richmond, our state funding just got seriously whacked, and our Spring fundraiser fell $26,000-and-change short of its very necessary goal of $125,000. So we're going back on the air next Tuesday (for one day plus Wednesday's Morning Edition) to ask those of you who listen or read this blog or call in your questions to Virginia Insight or Facebook your opinions on the WMRA page -- for help.

The truth is, as government funding slips away, in order to survive in our current iteration we simply have to realize our spring fundraiser goal. So, my question is pretty direct: Can you please help? If you've not contributed, will you now?  If you have contributed already, but know someone who hasn't, would you suggest to them that they do what they can?

Call in (800-677-9672) or e-pledge your support any time and it will count towards the goal.

Let's hear it for well-sourced information over high-sounding vacuity!!!

Thomas Estes introduces you to Omar

Martha note:  Hilary White Holladay, who teaches African American Literature at James Madison University, had what I thought was a great idea. She suggested that the last two Civic Soapboxes of Black History Month feature two of her students reading poems that are meaningful to them. Here is poem #2, offered to honor all the contributions of persons of color to our nation's history. 

The introduction is transcribed from a conversation I had with Thomas about his chosen poem. To listen to this conversation and to Thomas reading "Freedom Candy," click here.

My names is Thomas Estes. In my English 362 class, African American Poets, I was assigned E. Ethelbert Miller. So I was just reading it one day, and I liked it, and the next day someone said, hey, you want to read something on the air? And I said you know what? I know just what I'm going to read. I've read it all ready. And it's the perfect poem. 

I like it because in this book, How We Sleep on Nights We Don't Make Love, E. Ethelbert Miller created this character Omar. There's 6 consecutive poems about Omar. And this is the first one. And I read it. And I really liked the part where he said, "you know we should tell Mrs. Greenfield about herself  since it's Black History Month." I was like, yeah! 

I guess I was kinda like that person in school. Always  rebellious. I read this poem and felt the energy from it. 

I am close to being Omar. I laugh all the time. I could say I am Omar

E. Ethelbert Miller

Freedom Candy
        by E.Ethelbert Miller 

What kind of name is Omar
I asked this new boy at school.
You named after a candy bar or what?
You know you’re too light to be milk chocolate. 

Omar looked at me and laughed.
Since that first smile, he’s my best friend.
Maybe my best friend ever.
Folks call us the Inseperables
Like one of those old singing groups my daddy is always talking about. 

Omar’s a Muslim name, Omar tells me.
I think it sounds like a candy bar.
Like O’Henry. Baby Ruth. Mars. Or Almond Joy.
Maybe his mamma should have named him Snickers ’cause of the way he laughs. 

Omar’s name sounds like candy.
And the way he acts is sweet to me.
Every teacher except Mrs. Greenfield thinks so.
Mrs. Greenfield, she don’t like Muslims.
And the rest of us she calls natural born sinners cause of the way we talk and behave. 

Omar says, we should tell Mz. Greenfield about herself since it’s Black History Month.
So Omar stands up and says to Mrs. Greenfield,
How come you don’t lead us somewhere?
How come you’re not like Harriet Tubman?.
Why no field trips? Why no trips to the museum or zoo?
Why we never go nowhere?
Why? 

Mrs. Greenfield, she don’t say nothing.
She just looks at Omar as if he is the last Muslim on earth and is about to die.
I think about how Omar says, Muslims pray five times a day.
And how cats have nine lives.
And just maybe Omar might make it to three o’clock.
Or maybe he won’t. 

Suddenly Mrs. Greenfield has one of those fainting spells
Like old Moses Tubman.
She has to sit down behind her desk,
So she tells me to go get her some water. 

I feel free as I race down the hall,
Wondering how Omar can be sweet sometime,
And get on everyone’s nerve the next. 

My daddy once told me M & M’s melt in your mouth
And your hands.
Especially if you’re colored.
Wait until I tell Omar.

 --Thomas Estes is from Washington D.C. He’s a junior, studying English, at James Madison University.

"Ward Words," blatantly cut and pasted from Radioactive Terry Ward's Facebook page so that you, too, can incorporate them into your vocabulary . . .

Terry as a floating face

Martha note: Around five, the WMRA offices pretty much clear out except for me, Tom DuVal (who never stops working) and Terry Ward, who's there to bring you All Things Considered. 

This is when Terry and I get to have our daily goof-ball conversations during which he says funny things (imagine Terry Ward being funny!), and I laugh. 

Yesterday, our conversation revolved around Terry's invention of the word "disimprove" to describe something some system had done to the WMRA on-air computer that makes it go dark while whoever's on the air is smack in the middle of reading an announcement. 

I'm proud to say that the Woodroofs have actually invented one Woodroof Word, completely by accident. Charlie was working a crossword puzzle, evidently incorrectly, for when he'd filled in all words but one, the remaining word came up as "repozzled." That has entered our family's vocabulary as a word meaning, "a feeling of puzzled wonderment of the ‘how-the hell-did-this-happen' variety." Or, as a secondary meaning, "the state of being completely flummoxed by a crossword puzzle. . ." 

Terry, however, seems to invent his wondrous words effortlessly and with no miss-worked crosswords necessary. 

Boohillion

Variable measure for any mind-blowingly large number of the sort that makes mere millions look like pocket change.  (It costs a boo-hillion dollars to build an aircraft carrier).

Disimprove, disimprovement

Changes imposed from above which are packaged as improvements but which make things worse or less usable.  Many bureaucratic adjustments, IT department moves, and Facebook automatic wall-format changes are dis-improvements.

Docutorial

Film made in the documentary manner with a non-neutral, activist perspective;  a documentary-style call-to-action film.

image by Galen Johnson

Depressionette

The global economic downturn/mess/meltdown 2008-201_  ;  AKA the Great Recession.

New Security

The post-September Eleventh changes through Homeland Security, TSA, FBI, and the rest ---everything from Orange Alerts to, "If you see something, say something," to TSA "gate rape" (latter phrase not used on-air ---found on the web).

Gulf War One

The 1990-91 Gulf war, Operation Desert Storm ---started speaking of Gulf War One circa 1999-2002 when it seemed like a Gulf War II wasn't far away.  Shortly after outbreak of the Iraq War (AKA Gulf War II) in 2003, the phrases Gulf War One and Gulf War II were in widespread use.

Hussein-ey hole

Any hidey-hole used by a deposed autocrat.  Named for temporary hole-dweller Saddam Hussein.

Britches Bomber

The attempted "underwear bomber", Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ---accused of trying to crash Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009 as it approached Detroit from Amsterdam.

The Acronym-Resistant Event

The annual "Active Shooter Situation" drill.   Occasionally area public safety forces participate in this exercise which sounds rude when acronym-ed.

False Return,

Tease Return

Broadcast scheduling format technique used widely in national AM radio shows in which a commercial break is followed by an apparent "return" to the show ---which in fact lasts only 40-90 seconds or so before going to another commercial break.  The sound of the show host's voice leads some listeners who'd lowered volume during the ads to raise the volume and assume that the show had returned ---only to be hit with a new onslaught of commercials.

Terry & I in an F.U. moment

F.U. value

Transitional phrase spoken at public broadcasting stations when segueing from regular programming to a local fundraiser pitch:  "if you value  that kind of broadcasting, well please call now and support it..."

Happy Friday

A greeting honoring the end of the work-week as the mini-holiday that it usually is ---used on-air since about 1988.  The phrase spread to some Music Through the Night-affiliated music radio hosts, and ---so the rumor goes--- from there to right-wing AM talker Sean Hannity who ---so the rumor goes--- uses it often while also bungling it by randomly wishing people "happy (any workday),"  even (horrors!) "happy Monday".  An email inquiry to the AM show went unanswered.  (Ward is uninterested in listening to the AM show for the purpose of confirming such rumors.)

Fairfaxification

Covering countryside with commercial sprawl ---from an early 1990's municipal meeting.

Tuvo-Scots reggae,

Gregorian slam-jazz,

Post-disco fado-hop,

Celto-uvular krunk,

Klez-yodel fusion,

Xylo-panpipe punk ...(etc)

Various nicknames for the sort of unlikely crossover music sure to be featured on "Morning Edition", "Weekend Edition", or "All Things Considered" at least five times per year ---mostly just because it is such an unlikely crossover.

Cyberfriend

A Facebook-only "friend" ---usable as noun or verb.

 'Deef

In the manner of Facebook, to DeFriend ---"oh what a mean comment; she'll get deefed for sure."

The  _(location)_  Shooter

On-air identification of various spree killers ---nearly-always-memorized but purposefully kept unnamed on air out of a principled belief that no one should get fame for murdering civilians.  They are identified instead as "The Arizona Shooter," "The Virginia Tech Shooter," "The Beltway Snipers," "The Columbine Shooters," et cetera, as a way of doing a small part to not-contribute to the media celebrity of (alleged) killer/s.

Social Self-Narration

When strangers who otherwise wouldn't converse are placed near each other by virtue of pot-luck or party snack table placement feel obliged to say something aloud and so make otherwise-inane declarative statements about their own easily-observable activity : "well, I'm gonna try a couple of those deviled eggs,"  "ooh I'm just gonna squeeze in here and get a napkin," "I think its time for more artichoke dip."

Ichthyochrome

Fish-shaped chrome-colored car decorations, such as Jesus-fish things. 

To "pull a Spiderman"

While acting on stage, to fall into the orchestra pit.   By extension, any very impressive almost-but-not-quite fatal fall.

Soooooo, any comments on the Ward Words? Better yet, any "You Words" to contribute to the WMRA Community conversation?

Heeeeeeeere's Bob . . . and the governor!

This is by way of being a public service touting tonight's programming on WMRA . . ..

Tonight at 7 p.m., on all Virginia Public Radio stations (of which WMRA is one), veteran political columnist and reporter Bob Gibson will sit down with Virginia's governor and ask him some difficult questions about these difficult times.

What's more, you'll have a chance to ask the governor a question as well, as VPR's Assembly Conversations is a live, state-wide, call-in show.

Which means that, thanks to Virginia Public Radio, for one hour, our governor is actually ours.

About Mr. Gibson. . .

It seems to me I met Bob when he was an undergraduate (Virginia 1972), although I'm not absolutely certain about that.  I am absolutely certain I've known him for many years, always liked him, and always respected him as a journalist.  Also,  Bob Gibson writes well, and I'm very picky when it comes to writing.

Bob is also one of the three people I know who really understand Virginia politics in ways most of us just don't. (The other two are the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Jeff Shapiro, and WMRA's Tom Graham.) Bob Gibson not only keeps up with what's going on currently in the Commonwealth, he is, from his years of  writing about state politics, able to put current events into their historical and political context.

Since I hope you'll be spending an hour with Mr. Gibson and the governor this evening on WMRA, I asked Bob to e-mail me a short work history, so you can put him in his context:

Bob Gibson, doing what he does so well ...  talking!

My experience in radio began at student-run WUVA in the early 1970s. I worked full-time as news director at WCHV in Charlottesville from 1974 to 1976, and then went over to the Charlottesville Daily Progress. Worked there (as reporter, editor, and political columnist)  from August of 1976 through March of 2008 when I left  to become Executive Director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. I've hosted a weekly political call-in show with guests from around Virginia from 1993 to 2000 on WINA in Charlottesville, and the call-in show Evening Edition on WVTF almost monthly since 2001. 

In our e-mail back-and-forth yesterday, Bob said he expects redistricting to loom large in tonight's discussion. "Three weeks ago, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed an executive order creating an independent bipartisan redistricting commission. The 11-member commission is purely advisory in nature and has voted to hold its meetings in public. Some members of the Virginia General Assembly doubt the commission will have a significant impact on the usually quite partisan remapping of legislative and congressional districts across the state."

(If you're interested in some background on redistricting, I highly recommend Mr.Gibson's  Charlottesville Daily Progress blog post "Who knows what impact sunlight might have on back-room redistricting?" ) 

Bob also expects there to be discussion of plans to fund transportation through borrowing money or by auctioning off ABC stores or licenses.

What else will the governor be asked? That could be up to you.

If you'll forgive a short Martha Harangue: Our state government only works responsively if you and I work it! Tonight is one of your best chances to ask Governor McDonnell a direct question and/or express your concern about decisions being made in Richmond. Of course, if you are too shy to ask questions, you could let Bob do it. He is many things, but shy is not one of them.

The call-in number for the Assembly Conversations is 866.611.6397.

Tinfoil Thinking-Cap Time, a Civic Soapbox essay by Chris Edwards

At a family gathering recently, I overheard two bright young guys critique a page in a history.

“‘One giant leap for mankind’ – gimme a break!”

“Everyone  knows the moon landings were a hoax.”

Huh?

No one seemed to “know” that, in 1969. When most of us had yet to touch a computer. How come we felt free to accept moon landings, when today’s 18 and 19-year olds, holding marvelous technology in their palms, feel free to deny them?

Google “Moon Landing Hoax,” and you get 1.8 million results. More even than “Global Warming Hoax” (1.6 million). So my question is: Is there still such a thing as an agreed-upon reality anymore? Does the Flat Earth Society’s website represent madness? satire? or merely one, among many, postmodernist “realities” – Is it possible that there IS no reality anymore -- just my truth, for me, and yours, for you?

I mean, did Jared Loughner’s online ramblings really predict the Tucson massacre?

If they did, how can we draw a clear line separating his posts from the 1.4 million posts on alien abductions, or 5.7 million supporting a flat earth? Millions of on-line references claim President Bush deliberately carried out the 9-11 attacks... while 27 percent among us think, or suspect, President Obama isn’t American. None of those claims can be remotely grounded in fact.

I’ve heard both leftists and right-wingers, people I’ve known and in the media, screaming that we live under fascism. Have they listened to anyone, such as a Holocaust survivor, describe real fascism?

Of course, next to all the online rants and fantasies, we can pull up countless bytes of solid, useful information. The Internet will certainly make today’s kids better informed than we were...if only they can sort it all out.

There’s a criterion for sorting out an idea’s credibility, called Ockham’s Razor: Given two possible explanations for any event, go with the simpler one. A patter on my roof could be footsteps of little green men from the Andromeda galaxy, but more likely (if less excitingly), it’s rain. Try asking: what would be the motive to fake a moon landing? Cold War Strategies? Perhaps. But think how many parties would have had to be in on the hoax – not only protecting the truth then, from Soviet spies, but each person, without exception, hiding it for more than 40 years! Ask yourself what’s more likely.

Also, there are widely-verified websites that can help sort truth from rumor, such as snopes.com and factcheck.org.

Getting informed won’t change the mind of a fanatic, but may help those of us who are merely confused. For instance, knowing Hawaii is a state (which a sizeable percentage of Americans don’t) may cast doubt not only on the Birther, but the Flat-Earth claim, if you’ve worried about boats plunging over Earth’s edge in those tropic seas.

Of course, I guess you could just claim Hawaii is a hoax.

It seems to me that in this “information"-glutted age, determining reality is, in itself, a challenge.

But without shared reality, how do we know if we’re still sane?

               --Chris Edwards is a writer living in Harrisonburg.