Free Republic

PBS has suspended its distribution of “Tavis Smiley” after “multiple, credible allegations” of misconduct against the late-night show’s eponymous host. Variety first reported the news that an investigation “found credible allegations that Smiley had engaged in sexual relationships with multiple subordinates” and that some feared “their employment status was linked to the status of a sexual relationship with Smiley.” But Smiley, in a text and video statement posted on Facebook later that night, said PBS had gone too far. “I have the utmost respect for women and celebrate the courage of those who have come forth to tell their truth....

In mid-1971, less than a year after the Public Broadcasting Service was created, a 35-year-old lawyer in the Nixon White House warned that conservatives were being “confronted with a long-range problem of significant social consequences - that is, the development of a government-funded broadcast system similar to the BBC.” That lawyer was Antonin Scalia, future Supreme Court justice, whose judicial rulings and observations would make him a conservative icon. His predictions were correct. Pledged as “a vital public resource to enrich our homes, educate our families and to provide assistance to our classrooms” by Lyndon Johnson in his 1967 State...

he longtime host of one of NPR's most successful programs has been suspended while the network investigates sexual misconduct allegations. The allegations against "On Point" host Tom Ashbrook include that he engaged in "creepy" sex talks and gave unwanted hugs, neck and back rubs to 11 mostly young women and men who worked on the show. They were contained in a document and confirmed in multiple interviews by WBUR-FM, the Boston station that produces the show. Ashbrook was put on leave last week. In a text to the station, Ashbrook said: "I am sure that once the facts come out...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=9JD-EGY9Y3Y More than a month ago I was asked during homecoming weekend to speak to an alumni panel on the topic of “Trump and the White Working Class,” along with the distinguished sociologist Arlie Hochschild, author of Strangers In Their Own Land, drawn from her experience of being embedded with rural folk in Louisiana, as sociologists do. Although she’s a liberal, she acquired a fair bit of sympathy for the outlook of the folks she met, not unlike the former head of NPR, Ken Stern, who traveled in red state areas and wrote Republican Like Me: How I Left the...

Two of the best known hosts on WNYC, Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz, have been placed on what the station called an "indefinite leave." "Effective immediately, Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz are no longer on the air," news anchor Shumita Basu said on the station's noon newscast. The station's parent organization, New York Public Radio, said the two men have been sidelined "pending an investigation into accusations of inappropriate conduct." The station would not comment on the nature of the accusations.

High school cheerleaders are also kneeling during the national anthem, according to a testimony from two high schoolers in Union City, Calif. Two high school students, Sasha Armbrester and Teana Boston, told NPR’s Youth Radio Friday that they are protesting police brutality at football games.Armbrester, a cheerleader for James Logan High School’s football team, said that the two girls originally learned about race relations from taking the same ethnic studies class at school, which made them reconsider supporting the National Anthem. “When Colin Kaepernick started taking a knee, a lot of people thought he was being unpatriotic. But for me...

Retired host John Hockenberry has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women he used to work with, including his former cohosts, on his public radio show The Takeaway.In a New York Magazine exposé published late Friday night, award-winning novelist Suki Kim documents her own experiences with the former WNYC radio host and explains that her interactions with the 61-year-old award-winning broadcaster spurred her to investigate if other women employed at his radio station had similar, or potentially worse, experiences of alleged harassment.Kim met Hockenberry after appearing as a guest to share her expertise on North Korea on The Takeaway, a national public radio news...

The chief news editor at National Public Radio has left the outlet following allegations of sexual harassment.NPR Chief News editor David Sweeney is "no longer on staff," Chris Turpin, acting senior vice president of news, said in an email to staff, NPR News reported on Tuesday."This is a difficult time for our newsroom and I'm committed to supporting all of you as we move forward," the email said. ADVERTISEMENT "I know you appreciate that there are some questions I cannot answer in keeping with our practice to not comment on personnel issues, but I will do my best to address those...

Garrison Keillor, the former host of "A Prairie Home Companion," said Wednesday he has been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over allegations of what the network called improper behavior. Keillor told The Associated Press he was fired over "a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard." Keillor didn't detail the allegation to AP, but he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he had put his hand on a woman's bare back when trying to console her. "I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness, and her shirt was...

Garrison Keillor, who pined so dearly for a carefree world consumed by mundane everyday life that he named his fictional radio town Lake Wobegon, is the latest major media dude to be canned for reported sexual misdeeds. Minnesota Public Radio, the distributor of A Prairie Home Companion, has reportedly cut ties with Keillor, the show's creator. In light of that news, it's only appropriate to find that the last time Keillor traveled to Charleston a year ago, he recorded his adventures in perfect character for his recurring Washington Post column. Upon entering Jestine's Kitchen, Keillor fixates on the first waitress...

In an recent interview with the Associated Press Garrison Keillor says he plans to step down as host of A Prairie Home Companion (APHC) after the 2015-2016 season. The 72 year old said, "I have a lot of other things that I want to do. I mean, nobody retires anymore. Writers never retire. But this is my last season. This tour this summer is the farewell tour."

I am a registered liberal who mostly toes the party line but I am not devoted to the idea of big government. I loathe the law in New York state requiring gas pump nozzles to not latch. This means that I must stand beside my vehicle, holding the nozzle lever open, instead of latching it and walking into the gas station to use the john which, if you're an older male and hear gushing liquid, you feel a powerful urge to do, so thanks to legislative over-regulation, I am on the verge of humiliating myself. Liberals believe in universal suffrage,...

From the wisdom of Keillor: "So he won. The nation takes a deep breath. Raw ego and proud illiteracy have won out, and a severely learning-disabled man with a real character problem will be president. We are so exhausted from thinking about this election, millions of people will take up leaf-raking and garage cleaning with intense pleasure. We liberal elitists are wrecks. The Trumpers had a whale of a good time, waving their signs, jeering at the media, beating up protesters, chanting “Lock her up” — we elitists just stood and clapped. Nobody chanted “Stronger Together.” It just doesn’t chant....

So he won. The nation takes a deep breath. Raw ego and proud illiteracy have won out and a severely learning-disabled man with a real character problem will be president. We are so exhausted from thinking about this election, millions of people will take up leaf-raking and garage cleaning with intense pleasure. We liberal elitists are wrecks. The Trumpers had a whale of a good time, waving their signs, jeering at the media, beating up protesters, chanting "Lock her up" -- we elitists just stood and clapped. Nobody chanted "Stronger Together." It just doesn't chant.

A week ago I felt good about America but no more. Coyotes are running freely in the streets of our big cities, the stock market is teetering on the verge of collapse, the monetary system will soon go belly-up, China and North Korea and Iran have a knife to our throats, our schools are in chaos, politicians corrupt, the media stupefied by political correctness, and everywhere you look you hear foreign accents. We are on the edge of the abyss. At my house, we've begun fortifying the basement walls with sandbags and laying in barrels of fresh water and K-rations....

So who was his secret "Prairie Home Companion"? Lake Wobegon is a quintessentially Minnesota small town characterized by the narrator as "... where all the women are strong (they need to be to fend off gropers), all the men are good-looking (oooh....was he hitting on men, too?), and all the children are above average (....and I truly hope protected from predators)."

Garrison Keillor, the former host of "A Prairie Home Companion," was fired on Wednesday by the Minnesota Public Radio after the network received an allegation of "inappropriate behavior" against the radio personality. MPR said in a statement it was “terminating its contracts with Garrison Keillor and his private media companies after recently learning of allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.”

Garrison Keillor, the former host of "A Prairie Home Companion," says he's been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over allegations of improper behavior. Keillor told The Associated Press of his firing in an email. In a follow-up statement, he says he was fired over "a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard."

NPR Chief News Editor David Sweeney has left the company following allegations of sexual harassment filed against him by at least three female journalists. "David Sweeney is no longer on staff," Chris Turpin, acting senior vice president of news, said in an email to staff.

European authorities are providing new details about a cloud of mysterious radioactive material that appeared over the continent last month. Monitors in Italy were among first to detect the radioactive isotope ruthenium-106 on Oct. 3, according to a fresh report by France's Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety Institute, known as IRSN. In total, 28 European countries saw the radioactive cloud, the report says. The multinational Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation, which runs a network designed to monitor for nuclear weapons tests, also confirmed to NPR that it had detected the cloud. Based on the detection from monitoring stations and meteorological data, the...