This American Life and California politics
I think all of KUSP’s news and information programs uphold the values of public radio journalism. The approaches differ, which is one of the reasons we carry the range of programs we do.
We try to keep up with, and spotlight, stories on our shows that have special resonance to the communities we serve. One story in particular escaped our advance attention, but it’s an extraordinary piece of public radio and, even though we’ve already run it on the air, I feel that I just have to call it to your attention.
This American Life show #406, which we aired on Sunday 4/24/2010, has as its theme “True Urban Legends.” Most of the first half of the show is focused on Steve Poizner, Republican candidate for Governor of California. It’s not about his political career, exactly; instead it focuses on the time Poizner taught at Mt. Pleasant High School in San Jose, and the book he wrote about his experiences there.
This American Life expands on their reporting on this web page, with links to more data that refutes much of Poizner’s characterization of the school at which he taught.
Poizner’s campaign claims their polls show that he is rapidly closing ground on Meg Whitman for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, as this San Jose Mercury News story reports. If so, the more Californians know about Poizner, the better – and the story on TAL certainly taught me something. You can hear the whole show streamed by following the links you see above.
Also: Sunday night we broadcast a debate between Poizner and Whitman, moderated by John Meyers of The California Report. The debate is archived here.
