Hot Air: A Radio Diary

by Saul Landau, Christopher Hitchens (Foreword)

The dearth of progressive commentators on the air waves, warns FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). contributes to a paucity of in-depth discussion and weakens core fibers of the American democratic cloth. So my job was to help listeners make sense of the news and then to draw logical and ethical judgments from the events and actions of government - in three minutes of less. The brief commentaries in this book try to help people reflect on some of the horrendous opinion imbalance on the air waves. Most countries that permit free expression offer the left more access to mass media than it has in the United States. The absence of critical, progressive voices is especially regrettable in this transition era from Cold War to a new, trade-dominated order. Just as the people experience the dramatic shocks in the shift from one epoch to another, they lack a meaningful language to explain the transition. How to encourage listeners to ask how they can participate in the political process and join the issues with reason and logic instead of succumbing to the nightly news attack by hitting the bottle of other "controlled" substances. Progressive listeners maintain currency with events because they understand that their shared ethic makes them actors. Progressive commentators can contribute to developing critical thinking, which in turn becomes a step toward taking enlightened action, Radio pundits on the left fill an important role.

245 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Saul Landau (1936–2013) was an internationally known scholar, author, commentator, and filmmaker who worked for forty years on social, political, and human rights issues. Landau authored fourteen books and produced more than forty films. He received several honors, including an Emmy Award for Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang, an Edgar Award for Assassination on Embassy Row, a George Polk Award for his investigative reporting, a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award, and a Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. In 2008 the Chilean government presented Landau with the Order of Bernardo O’Higgins for his human rights work, and in 2013 the Cuban government gave him the Medal of Friendship.