Host Ed Goldberg interviews David Shields, author of The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, a meditation on life, living and contemplating death. David Shields is the author of eight books, including Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of Celebrity, winner of the PEN/Revson Award; and Dead Languages: A Novel, winner of the Governor's Writers Award.

Words & Pictures travels north to Bellingham, Washington, to visit Canadian comics and animation wizard Michel Gagne, whose work runs the gamut from the abstract jazz-inspired film Sensology to concept design for Disney and Pixar. 

Gagne's bewildering take on the Dark Knight for DC Comics (Batman: Spore) infuriated traditional superhero fans, and his recently unveiled project Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet breaks the mold for computer-based gaming.  Recorded with the kind assistance of KUGS-FM Western Washington University.

Hosted by Clayton Morgareidge, this program has discussions of the collapsing economy, the politics of humor and irony in popular entertainment, and the situation in Afghanistan. To hear the whole show, click on the arrow above.  To hear individual pieces, follow the links below.

This show also featured songs with words   by Woody Guthrie, set to music by Billy Bragg.  Unfortunately copyright limitations require us to limit the length of the clips available on the web.  The album is Mermaid Avenue. 

1.  Arthur McEwan and Bill Resnick discuss the economy.

Humor and irony can be ways of deflating those who oppress us--but they can also promote stereotypes and immunize us from passions for serious causes.  Jan Haaken and Bob  Samuels discuss the complex issues posed by the popularity of The Daily Show, Stephen Colbert, and the movie Religulous. Samuels is the author of Teaching the Rhetoric of Resistance.