wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

The Family: Powerful Fundamentalists

Find out about The Family, an elite corps of fundamentalist Christianity which has powerful members on both sides of the aisle in Washington, D.C. Journalist Jeff Sharlet’s new book is The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.

Event: Jeff Sharlet will be speaking and signing books
Tuesday, June 3 at 7 pm
Park Slope Barnes & Noble
267 7th Avenue (at 6th Street)

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Fathers and Sons

A new film, "When Did You Last See Your Father?", explores the father/son relationship, as a son deals with his father’s terminal illness. Colin Firth stars; Anand Tucker is director. It opens June 6 at Lincoln Plaza, the Angelika, and Cinema 1,2,3.

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Three Generations of Irishmen

Award-winning playwright Conor McPherson’s new play, "Port Authority," is making its New York debut at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20th St.). It’s set in Dublin, and weaves together the stories of three generations of Irishmen. Brian d’Arcy James and Jim Norton star. It runs through June 22, and two additional performances have now been added to the sold out limited engagement: June 8 and June 22, both at 7 pm.

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Political Projections: Machine Politics

We look at how Hollywood has dealt with the world of machine politics, and how it's used characters like the nefarious party boss and the do-good reformer -- from their heyday between 1875 and 1950 up to the present. Daniel Eagan is a film critic for Film Journal International and the author of the upcoming book America’s Film Legacy. Bruce M. Stave, Director of the Oral History Office at the University of Connecticut, is the author and editor of several books on bosses, machines, and reformers.

You can watch the films we’ve selected and weigh in on the conversation by posting your reactions below. We may incorporate your comments into the on-air discussion.

Films we'll discuss:

“The Great McGinty” (1940): This rollicking political satire, the directorial debut of Preston Sturges, depicts a Chicago hobo who teams up with a party boss to work his way up to the mayor’s office.

“The Last Hurrah” (1958): Spencer Tracy stars in John Ford’s movie about the final campaign of a big city mayor, loosely based upon the life of Boston political boss James Curley.

“Street Fight” (2005): Marshall Curry directed this documentary about the hotly contested 2002 Newark mayoral race between Cory Booker, now mayor, and veteran machine politician Sharpe James.

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