Getting topical, newsy segments into a “best-of” weekend show can sometimes be a little challenging. We wanted to acknowledge that we’re on the eve of a historic election, but we didn’t really have any hard-hitting interviews with the candidates. So instead we offer Viveca Novak, deputy director of the non-partisan, non-profit Annenberg Political Fact Check. Her organization runs the website FactCheck.org, which seeks to get to the truth by calling attention to lies, correcting misstatements and dispelling rumors put out by both presidential campaigns. Being from a small town seems to help presidential and vice-presidential candidates connect with “heartland” voters. Commentator Tom Bodett has lived in small towns all his life (the Midwest, Alaska and now New England) and he offers some thoughts on the political value of “small town values.” Then at the top of the second hour of Bob Edwards Weekend, we have former philosophy students and authors Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein. Their book, Aristotle and an Aardvark Go To Washington: Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes, helps us decipher what politicians are trying to tell us.
-Chad