Our War on Xmas: KPFK Wed 12/23

LISTEN ONLINE TO THIS SHOW TO THE PODCAST
Our war on Xmas: BOB DYLAN has released a Christmas album! Is this a joke — or a tragedy? SEAN WILENTZ explains — he’s official historian at the official Bob Dylan website (he also teaches history at Princeton.)  READ Sean Wilentz on Dylan’s Xmas album HERE. LISTEN TO SAMPLES HERE. PLAYLIST: “Here Comes Santa Claus”; “I’ll Be Home for Xmas”; “Must Be Santa,” “Winter Wonderland”; “O Little Town of Bethlehem”  (originally broadcast 11/11/09)

Plus: Obama’s year-in-review: JOHN NICHOLS of The Nation comments – and reviews the pros and cons of the health care bill, scheduled to pass the Senate Dec. 24 at 8am.

Also: KATHA POLLITT is best known for her political columns in The Nation and her personal essays in The New Yorker, but she’s also an award-winning poet – her poems are published in The New Yorker, Paris Review, The Atlantic, and many other places.  Now she has a new book of poetry out – The Mind-Body Problem. We’ll talk about poetry and politics, and she will read some of my favorites.  (originally broadcast 7/29/09)