Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

7.20.16: What Hip Hop Says About the 2016 Election & Inventing the Emoticon

freddiefraggles via Flickr CC
/
https://flic.kr/p/bqvjLy

Since it's early days, hip hop have critiqued oppressions both political and economic - while flashing their own wealth and bravado. Donald Trump became a symbol of the latter, but recent mentions of him in hip hop have become much less positive during his campaign for president in the 2016 election. 

And, we’ll talk with a computer scientist who will forever be remembered not for his AI research, but as inventor of the emoticon. Plus, a writer attends her first autopsy, and says Hollywood gets it all wrong.

Listen to the full show. 

What Hip Hop Says About the 2016 Election

Back in 1989, rapper Chuck D called rap music Black America's TV station. Especially in its early days, hip hop artists boldly critiqued political and economic oppression along with their unabashed proclamations of wealth and bravado. Billionaire and reality TV star Donald Trump became a symbol of the latter. Hip hop artists dropped his name in songs and praised his wealth, luxury and power. Now, his name is coming up again for different reasons.

Allison McCann, is a visual journalist for Five Thirty Eight. She wanted to get a read on how all the major candidates were represented in hip-hop songs, especiallywhether hip-hop lyrics reflected Trump's shift from high-rolling businessman to politician famous for controversial statements on race, immigration and Muslims.

WOM07202016A.mp3
What Hip Hop Says About the 2016 Election

The Sitter Dispatch

When you’re far from home, without friends, life can lose some luster. Pair that with having little to no money and freshly graduating from college and you’ve got the recipe for some serious desperation. So when Maya Goldberg-Safir was offered a babysitting gig, you'd think she’d jump at the opportunity. Then she met Louie. The seven-year old was a tornado of destruction, but also, charisma. This is a story of unexpected friendship and following it wherever it takes you. 

This story was produced by Dennis Funk and Maya Goldberg-Safir and first aired on Re:Soundfrom the Third Coast International Audio Festival.

You can listen to this story again via Third Coast

Inventing the Emoticon

Scott Fahlman is a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, where the focus of his research is on artificial intelligence, but we’re speaking to him but because of something he invented in 1982 that is now used about 6 billion times a day – the emoticon

WOM08232015C.mp3
Inventor of the Emoticon

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.