October 17 - Fact-checking the Liar-in-Chief; Breaking Records for Negativity; Science Gets Short Shrift in Debate

Full Program	LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM
Part 1	We begin with George Zornick, a Washington-based reporter for The Nation. He has an article at The Nation “Romney’s Seven Biggest Debate Lies” and we fact-check the howlers from last night’s debate that came thick and fast from a cynical candidate apparently operating on the assumption that a lie will go around the world before the truth has time to tie its shoelaces.
Part 2	Then, as billions are starting to pour into last-minute attack ads that will carpet-bomb the swing states, we look into how effective negative ads are with John Geer the Chair of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and the author of “In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns”. We discuss how much presidential debates can alter opinions created from months of negative advertizing in a political climate where facts seem to matter less and less.
Part 3	Then finally we discuss perhaps the most challenging issue facing the planet that was not mentioned or brought up in last night’s debate, global warming. New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin, the creator of the Time’s Dot Earth blog joins us to discuss what wasn’t discussed and critique what was discussed; cheap gas, clean coal, more pipelines, more drilling and more jobs.