Today on The Nose, we begin with an essay, "Faking Cultural Literacy." Writer Karl Taro Greenfeld said, "It's never been so easy to pretend to know so much, without actually knowing anything." We pick topical, relevant bits from Facebook, Twitter, or emailed news alerts, and then regurgitate them.
Instead of watching "Mad Men," or the Super Bowl, or the Oscars, or a presidential debate, you can simply scroll through someone else's live-tweeting of it, or read the recaps the next day. Our cultural cannon is becoming determined by whatever gets the most clicks. I am guessing we have all at times been both perpetrators and victims of that phenomenon.
Also, we're turning more and more to "fake" newscasters like Stephen Colbert to get our news, and it's turning out to be more effective than the "real" news outlets.
We move onto this week's surprise announcement that the city of Hartford plans to spend $50 million or more to build a new stadium for a AA minor league baseball team.
What do you think? Comment below, email Colin@wnpr.org, or tweet @wnprcolin.
GUESTS:
- Jacques Lamarre is the Director of Communication and Special Projects at the Mark Twain House and Museum
- Rand Cooper is an author, essayist, and restaurant critic for The New York Times
- Rebecca Castellani is a scholar of modern literature
