Bone Marrow Donation, Political Discourse Post-Buckley

You Should Be a Bone Marrow Donor Guest: Julianne Grose, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at BYU; John Philipott, Community Engagement Representative Community Engagement Representative for Be The Match; Andrew White, BYU Student; Mary Halet, Regional Director of Donor Services at Be The Match Thousands of people are diagnosed every year with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases that can only be cured by a bone marrow transplant. Most of them – 70 percent – will not be able to find a match in their family and will have to turn to the national “Be The Match” registry. And because that registry isn’t long enough – maybe because you aren’t on it – half of the people whose only chance is finding a donor on that registry, will die. Join Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry. Use code BYU William F. Buckley Put Liberal America on the Firing Line Guest: Heather Hendershot, PhD, Professor of Media Studies at MIT and Author of “Open to Debate: How William F. Buckley Put Liberal America on The Firing Line” Debates today seem to comprise mostly of yelling and talking over each other. The polarized debate, personal attacks and shrieking pundits we’re accustomed to these days make a show called “Firing Line” seem like a snoozy relic.  Firing Line debuted 50 years ago, first on commercial TV in New York and then on PBS for a run of thirty years. By the time it left the air in 1999, it already seemed out of place on American TV. Sitting on a barebones set with a live audience of college students, conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr would host weekly debates with a who’s who of American liberals including Noam Chomsky and Norman Mailer. He also had sparred with major conservatives such as Henry Kissinger and Milton Friedman. During the period Firing Line was on the air, America underwent a dramatic shift to the right, culminating with the election of Ronald Reagan as president.