By Catie Talarski
Lots of open-source goodness happening next week, as we dive into the world of “copying” and BIG ideas on democracy. We’ll hear from the incoming Governor (and we want lots of emails and phone calls from you), revisit the best and worst in political ads, and preview the electric car on sale in Connecticut this month. Plug in and join us.
December 6 to 10, 2010:
MONDAY: A New Democracy
Jared Duval’s book “Next Generation Democracy” looks at big changes he sees coming in politics. And, it’s not about Democrats or Republicans – it’s about Open Source ideas, citizen participation and a crowd-sourcing solution to problems. The creator of one of these big ideas – New Haven’s own “See Click Fix” will join us as well.
TUESDAY: A Green Show
The United Nations Conference on Climate Change happening now in Cancun, Mexico is the latest effort to rally the global community to the greening cause. For many, going “green” has become the trendy new movement, but are our standards for sustainable practices a little too lax? We’ll talk to a Yale Professor who recently returned from the conference, where she gave a talk on green building and design, to see if we are accurately evaluating sustainability with current LEED certification and other greening standards. And we’ll look at the newest green car technology as the Chevy Volt hits the Connecticut market this month.
WEDNESDAY: Copycats
It’s said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. But there is a fine line between emulation and plagiarism. In the age of the cultural commons and open source everything, copying has become a complicated topic. But author Marcus Boon in his book “In Praise of Copying,” argues that copying is inherently human, perfectly legal, and the greatest complement. From Plato to Buddhism to Louis Vuitton rip-off bags, Boon argues that copying has played an important role in the evolution of our society. But will this “mash-up” mentality ultimately be the death of original thinking?
THURSDAY: Dan Malloy
Governor-elect Dan Malloy is getting ready to begin a job he’s been wanting for years. As he replaces Jodi Rell in the Governor’s office, he also takes on a problem that’s been dogging her for the last few years – a big and growing budget deficit. But the budget’s not all a Governor does. How about his role in leading the state? Coming up, we’ll have our first formal sit-down with Connecticut’s next Governor, and we’ll give listeners a chance to ask questions of Dan Malloy.
FRIDAY: Political Ads
During this brief respite from the barrage of negative political advertising, we’re going to talk about… political ads! Coming up, we talk with the folks at Wesleyan Media Project about their research from this past election cycle. They tracked and analyzed all advertisements aired by or on behalf of federal and state election candidates in every media market in the country – and reported on who was using corporate or union spending in these campaigns, and how they fared. We’ll hear about the trends in 2010 – and what implications will be for the upcoming ad storm of 2012.
In your interview with on new democracy, Jared Duval bemoans partisanship and obstructionism in Washington and then proceeds to bash Linda McMahon and the people who supported her. How does Jared expect communities to come together in new social networks to create positive change if he himself helps perpetuate the hostile political environment? I wish his answers focused more on his work in the book and less on his political point of view.