© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

To Shave or Not to Shave

DATE: 00-9:00 PM

MICHELE NORRIS, Host:

Commentator Andrei Codrescu would like to advocate a change in the way that men present themselves to the world. It isn't extreme, or permanent, but he thinks it would improve the state of things.

ANDREI CODRESCU: In light of my new year's resolution to write only things that have some practical and positive value, I'm advocating that men start shaving again. The current style which reflects the state of the republic, is mostly unshaven or half-shaven. Stubbly actors have given men everywhere an excuse to sport stubble, but not all men are actors. The young males who romp through the pixels on TV do not resemble you or me. They are a breed apart, bred by advertising to sell things.

Every time I see my fellows outdoors I want to scream, to the barber. That's ironic of course, because in my youth I did not shave at all. I sprouted silky beards and moustaches like a field of rich loam. My hair and my youth were a challenge to the smooth-shaven who ran the world.

When I joined the smooth, it was not because I felt less rebellious, but because I had less hair. And what hair I had had turned to barbed wire.

The new youth on TV are not rebellious at all. Not even half rebellious as their stubble might suggest. Their purpose in existing is to make money. By sporting a look that should never, ever be taken for a statement. They are a waste of hair.

But older men, who should know better, are also covered in gray stubble like fields of burned sugar cane. Who are they in their own minds? Special Forces who've just emerged from foxholes after facing a mole-like enemy? Poets who've worked so hard at their sonnet, they've stayed up weeks in their attics carving every line out of three grams of grain spunk?

What is also certain is that older folks, just like the younger, are hypnotized by the same culture. Perhaps the stubble reflects a desire to grow out of the mirror clean interiors of smooth-shaven minds. Actors are not entirely responsible for the look, though. Clearly, being half-shaving reflects the daily loitering Congress, the mumbling President, the grayness of the times.

In the black and white days of the Cold War, the choices were clear. You're either a cop or a beatnik, a banker or a prophet, a salesman or a target, a hippie or a trucker. Later, those designations reversed direction. For a while it looked liked nobody was in control. Truckers grew hair and bankers grew mustaches. Then, everything changed again. The cold warriors took back the country and let loose the pixels of confusion. We are now a wholly hypnotized, half-militarized, half-shaven country. Men, to the barber, I say.

W: Twenty Years of Writings From the City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.