Several major Telecom companies helped the National Security Agency spy on tens of millions of Americans, according to a report in Thursday's USA Today. The NSA has been collecting phone records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth in order to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity. Is this kind of surveillance justified in the name of National Security or is it another case of Big Brother chipping away at our civil liberties? Patt Morrison is joined by Erwin Chermerinsky, Professor of Constitutional Law, Duke University School of Law, John Eastman, Professor of Law, Chapman University School of Law, and Director of Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Gary Lorden, CalTech Professor of Mathematics, and we open the phones to hear from listeners.
They say truth is stranger than fiction. What then, is the result of fiction based on reality? In the case of American politics and culture, the result is the hit NBC television show, West Wing. Fans and aficionados are melancholy as West Wing ends its award-winning run this Sunday. After seven seasons, the show that followed a fictional president and touched on issues such as anti-terror legislation and presidential scandal, is quitting while it's ahead. Host Patt Morrison is joined by Trevor Parry-Giles, author of The Prime-Time Presidency: The West Wing and U.S. Nationalism, to discuss the show's pop culture depictions of the presidency, and to reflect on the impact this show has had.
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
