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- Regarding BS
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- Paul McDonald
Essay regarding bullshit - tastefully refered to as "BS" - that refers to Dr. Harry Frankfurt's bestselling book titled "On Bullshit." Broadcast on WFPL, Louisville, Kentucky June 10, 2005.
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Piece Description
Essay regarding bullshit - tastefully refered to as "BS" - that refers to Dr. Harry Frankfurt's bestselling book titled "On Bullshit." Broadcast on WFPL, Louisville, Kentucky June 10, 2005.
Broadcast History
June 10, 2005; WFPL, Louisville, Kentucky
Transcript
Benjamin Franklin said that the only things certain in life are death and
taxes. He's right, of course, but he only covered two thirds of the
territory. The other certainty is a word I can't repeat for fear of
offending the FCC so let's use an acronym and call it BS. Back in
Franklin's day BS was referred to as humbug, balderdash or drivel and
was, for the most part, easy to distinguish from the truth. But with
the advent of fake news, reality TV and pop culture, it's getting harder
to tell BS from shinola.
Back when I worked in entertainment I told people I was used to being
deceived. Now that I'm older I realize that I was actually on the
receiving end of enough BS to fertilize a redwood forest. In his book
"On BS" (and I'm paraphrasing the title) Dr. Harry Frankfurt of
Princeton University defines BS as being "deceptive misrepresentation
short of lying....
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
two minutes, six seconds; straight commentary
Additional Files
- Regarding BS (BSEssay.doc)
Related Website
Deborah Astley
Posted on June 10, 2005 at 10:47 AM | Permalink
Review of Regarding BS
This short, straight forward piece on the subject of BS would be appropriate any time, any day, any season of the year because BS is always with us. And, yes, there should be courses beginning in preschool on BS detection. I laughed out loud when McDonald related that the first time he realized he had been BS'd was by his mother - it involves the Jetsons and a rocket belt. Give this piece a listen.