BRIDGES: A LIBERAL/CONSERVATIVE DIALOGUE:
HOLLYWOOD'S AMERICA, PT. 1 (RADIO)
Summary
Part one of a two-part program from this series of radio talk shows hosted by Larry Josephson which examines social and political issues. In part one, Josephson examines the conservative view of the impact that the Hollywood film industry has had on American culture and whether the industry is unduly influenced by the "liberal elite." The host plays recordings made at "The Dream Factory and the American Dream," an October 1994 conservative summit in Los Angeles organized by the Center for the Study of Popular Culture and sponsored by the National Review Institute. The participants include: actor Charlton Heston, broadcaster Rush Limbaugh, film historian Tony Thomas, "New York" magazine theater critic John Simon, writer/New Age religionist Arianna Huffington, film producer Lionel Chetwynd, and actor Tom Selleck. Segments of speeches are played in the following order: Heston speaks at the closing dinner, whereby he provides his vision of the American Dream; Limbaugh comments on the conservative movement in America and lauds the public conservatives who preceded him as his "idols"; film historian Tony Thomas recalls the American cinema which inspired him as a boy growing up in England, and the negative American image perpetuated by current Hollywood fare; Simon comments on artistic vision, suggests school should teach children the freedom to offend through creativity, offers what he feels is a fairer way for grants to be awarded to artists, and decries "politically correct" art; writer Arianna Huffington lambastes the current "culture of disintegration," implores artists to encourage our moral sense, and urges conservatives to become creators and stop being the culture of dissent. A question-and-answer session includes these highlights: Huffington's denouncement of the "art of rage"; Simon's defense of artistic dissent and his remark that whoever paid for Huffington's Cambridge education had wasted their money; Huffington's rebuttal to Simon's acerbic remark; Selleck's views of boycotts and Hollywood films; and Josephson's query about whether culture "wells up from the bottom or is imposed from the top."
Details
- NETWORK: WNYC-AM / NPR National Public Radio
- DATE: December 9, 1994
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:58
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:11764
- GENRE: Radio - Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: WNYC (New York, NY) - Radio series, 1994-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Evan Spring … Producer
- Ronnie Hess … Producer
- Anthea Raymond … Associate Producer
- Larry Jospehson … Host, Producer, Developed by
- Lionel Chetwynd
- Charlton Heston
- Arianna Huffington
- Limbaugh, Rush (See also: Christie, Jeff)
- Tom Selleck
- John Simon
- Thomas, Tony (film historian)