The amazing Margaret Cho has made a career of bold, in-your-face self-deprecation. A self-described Korean-American fag hag, girl comic, and trash talker, she jokes about rough subjects made intimate: dating disorders and drug abuse, boundary-crossing sexual misadventure, and self-described sluttiness.
But it is Margaret Cho’s dark horse sensibility that has won the hearts of [...]

Among the major news headlines of this past week:
1) John Kerry and John Edwards accept their nominations as the Democratic Party’s Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates during the party’s convention in Boston.
2) Former Presidents Clinton and Carter and many other party faithful gave ringing endorsements to nominee John Kerry.
3) With the DNC over, President Bush [...]

After four days of foot-stomping delegates, big parties and big speeches, the Democratic National Convention wrapped up last night with John Kerry’s acceptance speech and a rapturous response from the party faithful.
With a little over three months until the election and the Republican National Convention just around the corner, John Kerry and John Edwards will [...]

Last night, the Democrats officially nominated John Kerry, and tonight, he will address the delegates at the convention. Kerry’s advisors have been working hard to develop his image and craft a message for his campaign.
The Democrats have put many people forward to speak on Kerry’s behalf. We have heard from the Democratic Party’s top dogs, [...]

After the glitz and drama of the DNC is over, Kerry and Edwards still have a campaign to win. This week they have been surrounded by their party’s faithful. But to win the election they will need to reach beyond the Democratic Party’s traditional base. Many believe that this election will be decided by [...]

The nation’s attention is focused on the Democratic Convention in Boston this week. But on the other side of the world, Iraq is still in turmoil.
Today, 68 people were killed by a suicide car bomb in Baquba. Two coalition troops were killed in a clash with insurgents in western Iraq.
The Democrats largely oppose the [...]

The Democrats are enjoying the spotlight this week, and the delegates from the Democratic Party are in high spirits. You can’t walk two feet in downtown Boston without running into the red, white, and blue signs of the Democrats or an eager delegate.
Yes, the Democratic Party has taken over the city of Boston. All except [...]

John Kerry wants to be the next U.S. president and his background reads like a blueprint for U.S. presidents. He is tall, good-looking, and rich. He is a decorated Vietnam veteran who became an antiwar protester. For the past 20 years, he has served as the junior senator from Massachusetts and made a name for [...]

At the Democratic National Convention, the focus is on the upcoming November election. But long-term party issues are pushing their way to the forefront of convention conversations. While party experts advocate stability to ensure a successful presidential campaign, some new voices are clamoring for change.
Reverend Jesse Jackson gives his take on the soul of the [...]

On the opening night of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Democrats come together to lay out their platform. But some of the positions presidential nominee Senator John Kerry has taken, puts him at odds with his party.
What is John Kerry’s vision for the economy, healthcare, race relations, education, and national security? And how much [...]

The Democratic National Convention began today in Boston. Officials in both campaigns say the conventions are a chance to sway nearly 20 percent of still undecided voters. But what are those voters looking for in a candidate? John Harwood, the national political editor for The Wall Street Journal, discusses what he thinks [...]

The new movie “I, Robot,” based on Isaac Asimov’s 1950 book of the same title and starring Will Smith, topped the box office on its opening weekend.
But Asimov and Hollywood diverge over robots. Asimov anticipated virtuous helpmates for humans. Hollywood robots tend to be revealed as Frankenstein monsters gone wrong. With real world [...]

Among the major news developments this past week:
1) Dan Gillerman, Israeli ambassador to the U.N. and Nasser Al-Kidwa, Palestinian observer at the U.N., address the General Assembly after its vote calling on Israel to dismantle its security fence.
2) U.S. troops kill 25 insurgents in a fire-fight in Iraq’s Sunni city of Ramadi.
3) Alan Greenspan testifies [...]

In 1969, an Arizona inventor named John Cover created the Taser, a stun gun that uses an electric current to incapacitate a target. Versions of the Taser technology have been used since the 70s, but since 1999, when the pistol-style M26 Taser was introduced, sales have boomed among police departments in the United States and [...]

As the Democratic National Convention approaches, WBUR’s Audie Cornish reports on whether Boston, the host city, is ready.
Guests:
Audie Cornish, reporter WBUR

Boston resident Tiziana Dearing was thinking about skipping town during the Democratic National Convention. Terror alerts, extra security measures, and the threats of attack filled her with a terrible foreboding, especially when her thoughts turned to her two-year-old daughter.
But in this radio diary, she explains why she decided to stick around Boston during the Democratic [...]

After nearly two years of investigation, the 9/11 Commission released its final report today. The failures of 9/11 were many and terrible, but it was the future of American national security that got the biggest emphasis from the report.
At today’s press conference, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, Vice Chair of the Commission, urged a [...]

After nearly two years of investigation, the 9/11 Commission released its final findings report today. Among its findings, the Commission cited “operational opportunities” missed by the United States’s intelligence community. America’s institutions and leadership, said the Commission, failed in ways large, small and disastrous.
Emphasizing the gravity of the findings, Commission Chairman Thomas Kean urged the [...]

Tomorrow comes the long awaited final report from the 9/11 Commission. It is expected to say that in battle against terrorism, America needs a new Intelligence czar to oversee all US intelligence operations.
But our guest tonight, respected senior officer at the CIA, says the problem the country faces is far bigger and far worse than [...]

It is the summer reading season, but according to a recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts, fewer Americans are picking up books than ever before. Over the last year, less than half of all Americans read a novel, short story, poem or play. The study raised NEA chairman Dana [...]