Glenn Beck as Irrationality's Icon and Embodiment

It has been a while since I recorded a Point of Inquiry show--there were a lot of them in the can, I had a big backlog. But I'm about to speak with Alexander Zaitchik, the author of Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance. I've been reading it and I must say, it is quite an indictment of the radically low standards of our modern media industry, and our national discourse--that this guy can be such a dominant force today. I also think it is important for those of us who count ourselves skeptics, and critical thinkers, to examine people like Beck, and not just standard anti-science nonsense. His conspiracy mongering, his appeals to fear, his irrational nostalgia for a bygone era that never was--these, too, are pathologies of poor thinking. So I'm looking forward to talking with Zaitchik about what we can learn from "Glenn Beck Nation"...and in the meantime, while you await the show (not sure yet when it will air), check out his book.