This past week brought us the long-awaited first of six Democratic candidate debates, held at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas. The tone was substantive, exposing a few stark differences between the candidates and their Republican opponents. They offered nuanced and complex views -- overall, a good night for voters who want to know the candidates.
We came away with different opinions over who "won" the debate, with pundits crowning Hillary Clinton the winner in contrast toonline polls, focus groups and those on social media who say Bernie Sanders hit it home. But, we'll talk instead about the spectacle CNN made of the event.
And, we can't ignore Jim Webb's show stopping comment in response to Anderson Cooper's final question asking each candidate which enemies they were most proud of making. "I would have to say the enemy soldier that threw the grenade that wounded me but, he's not around right now to talk to, " said Webb with a smirk and a chuckle. Why would a man who wrote this, say that?
Next, Danny Meyer is banishing tipping from his restaurants. He's not the first to eliminate tipping, but he's certain to have the biggest impact. The change will affect New York City businesses that serve almost 50,000 meals a week, and will quickly spread to other parts of the country. He'll raise the pay of his most underpaid staff, and raise the cost of your meal. Is the dining public up for it?
Last, Wesley Morris wrote a thoughtful essay in last weekend's NYT Magazine, commenting on our "great cultural identity migration," where gender roles are merging, races are being shed and we've introduced more defining labels than we had before. He says we've spent so much time in the last decade creating alternate versions of ourselves, "we're all becoming one another." Fear over these changes are reflected in the candidacy of Donald Trump, who wants to cleanse America of all who aren't like him. We'll tie all of this to thetragic story of NBA start Lamar Odom.
GUESTS:
- Jim Chapdelaine - Emmy Award-winning musician, producer, composer, and recording engineer
- Theresa Cramer- Writer and the editor of E-Content Magazine, where she covers the world of digital media; and founding editor of The Cut.
- Kate Rushin - Poet and teaching artist. She's the author of The Black-Ups and is currently teaching a Fall poetry workshopat the Mark Twain House and Museum.
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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
