ravi wrote:
in the last few years, i have become growingly annoyed with WBAI/pacifica's use of publicity activists like arundhati roy. i contribute to WBAI because of amy goodman and doug henwood (recently heard interviewing "spread" magazine contributors on prostitution ;-)). roy is more a disincentive
Why thank you!
There's a certain kind of American leftist that *adores* Roy. A year or so ago I sat in the WBAI studio as a fundraiser was drawing to a close, and they started running one of her talks. The phones lit up like I've never seen before. I managed to evoke something remotely similar by starting a Noam Chomsky interview, then stopping it and saying I'd only resume it if the phones started ringing, starting, stopping, etc. But Roy's pull was 150-200% of Chomsky's. I'm sorry to say this, but I think it's because she plays the role of an emotional third world woman that certain Americans find irresistible.
Doug
