News

    Obsessively watched and critically ignored, sitcoms were a distraction, a gentle lullaby of a kinder, gentler America—until suddenly the artificial boundary between the world and television entertainment collapsed.

In Sitcom: A History In 24 Episodes From I Love Lucy To Community by Saul Austerlitz, we can watch the growth of the sitcom, following the path that leads from Lucy to The Phil Silvers Show; from The Dick Van Dyke Show to The Mary Tyler Moore Show; from M*A*S*H to Taxi; from Cheers to Roseanne; from Seinfeld to Curb Your Enthusiasm; and from The Larry Sanders Show to 30 Rock.

    Unemployment is a national problem, especially since the recession.

In today’s Congressional Corner, New York representative Sean Patrick Maloney tells WAMC’s Alan Chartock that benefits must be extended to the long-term unemployed.

    The National Geographic Channel’s documentary series, Life Below Zero, follows 7 people as they struggle to survive the treacherous and remote lives they’ve made for themselves near or above the arctic circle in the Alaskan bush.

Some of them are lone wolves; others have their families beside them. They fish, forage, and freeze in a wild-world that doesn’t care if they get through the winter or not.  The premiere of Season 2 of Life Below Zero will air this Thursday, April 17th at 9pm. 

Sue Aikens lives by herself at Kavik River Camp, a place so remote the address is given in latitude and longitude, located a few miles from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The ground is frozen year round so there is no way to dig a well yet - Sue has internet and telephone service - even if it does often drop in extreme weather.

  Built in the fifth century b.c., the Parthenon has been venerated for more than two millennia as the West’s ultimate paragon of beauty and proportion. Since the Enlightenment, it has also come to represent our political ideals, the lavish temple to the goddess Athena serving as the model for our most hallowed civic architecture. But how much do the values of those who built the Parthenon truly correspond with our own?

In The Parthenon Enigma, Joan Breton Connelly challenges our most basic assumptions about the Parthenon and the ancient Athenians.

  Today's panelists are WAMC's Alan Chartock and political consultant, Libby Post.

Topics include:
NYPD Muslim Squad disbanded
Al Qaeda comeback?
Terror Hoaxes
Ukraine
Cuomo signs Popular Vote Compact
SAT tests not to include “obscure” words

WAMC's Dr. Alan Chartock discusses the April "winter" weather, local Congressional races, and the New York governor's income.

Here's NewsChannel 13 Meteorologist Paul Caiano's WAMC Regional Forecast:

BOSTON (AP) — Police in Boston have not released the identity of a man accused in a bombing hoax near the Boston Marathon finish line.

Schenectady, New York is throwing a parade for Union College’s men’s hockey team after its 7-4 victory over Minnesota Saturday. Union College defenseman and captain Mat Bodie has agreed to an entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. ESPN said Bodie will finish his degree this spring and join the Rangers for developmental camp this summer. Bodie led all NCAA defensemen with 39 points this season and will join Union rival RPI alumni Ryan Haggerty on the roster for the Rangers.

What is left after a star explodes and dies? The answer is a neutron star.

Dr. Victoria Kaspi, professor of astrophysics and cosmology at McGill University, is piecing together the structure of a specific type of neutron star called a magnetar.