Radio Sweethearts

Normally, I get to listen to “On the Media” on my way to work on Sunday mornings. It airs here at 11:00 a.m. Sunday mornings. About 43 hours after the podcast goes up.

That didn’t happen this week. I lost my job Saturday.

Valentine’s day is a rough day to lose your job. Sunshine, flowers, chocolates, warmth (at least in Tennessee – it was beautiful here), and pesky little baby angels everywhere, and then I have to go home and explain to Kerry why I’m back early.

I will always take comfort, however, in knowing that I didn’t exactly have the worst Valentine’s day ever. That most dubious of honors goes to one of the best writers in recent memory.

On Valentine’s Day, 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini issued an edict calling for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of the wonderful Magical Realist novel, “The Satanic Verses.”

There is, of course, note of this on OTM, but it does feel like the story’s real importance – dealing with freedom of expression, and how governments from separate nations respect or disrespect each other’s rights, policies, and decisions. Ultimately, I’m appalled that neither the government of the United Kingdom – where Rushdie lived at the time – or of India – his native country – stood up for Rushdie against the Ayatollah, who lead Iran, a completely separate nation.

I like the interview Bob does with Rushdie’s lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson – who points out the hypocrisy of the British government re: blasphemy laws. It’s a shame somebody on the OTM staff didn’t embed the right audio in the transcript page. The story’s all I want to point out this week, and I can’t. Until somebody fixes it.

So I’ll leave you with the comment I left on the story (click on it to view it full size):