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Fair Game (Variety)

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Host: Faith Salie
Possibly the only Rhodes Scholar doing comedy today, Fair Game covers the important stories of the day and uses insightful humor to tease out what it all means. The show also features newsmaker and celebrity interviews, live music, and regular appearances by the country?s best comedians. Think of it as a variety show for the highest common denominator.
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Genres: Variety, Comedy, Current Affairs
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Language: English

Last updated 560 days ago Update program info

Recent Topics

Tbilisi-wood

Mon, Oct 13

Georgia used to be something like Russia's California -- good wine, mild weather, beautiful countryside, and even a vibrant movie industry. Georgian movies were like a breath of fresh air in the ideological Soviet film industry. Pamela Renner reports on how filmmakers today are trying to navigate the twin perils of Russian war and the Western free

Global Hit - Julieta Venegas

Fri, Oct 10

US-born Mexican pop star Julieta Venegas has gone unplugged and on the road. And as The World's William Troop tells us, she likes playing her new sound for Latino audiences in the United States.

Conservative Folk

Thu, Oct 9

1960s protest music wasn't only for championing left-wing causes. A segment of the folk movement came out in praise of Barry Goldwater and warned against the evils of communism. Richard Paul investigates the right side of folk music.

Global Hit - Gurrumul

Wed, Oct 8

A blind aboriginal singer is topping the charts in Australia. Reporter Peter Hadfield brings us this profile on singer-songwriter Gurrumul.

Janeane Garofalo at Bumbershoot

Tue, Oct 7

Janeane Garofalo is an actress and standup comic. She's currently a co-star on the FOX series 24, and is working the road as a standup as part of the 'Satiristas.'

David Zucker

Mon, Oct 6

After September 11th, David Zucker, the filmmaker behind the comedy classics "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun", switched his politics from left to right. His new movie "An American Carol" is a spoof about a bunch of liberals bent on abolishing the Fourth of July. David Zucker tells Kurt about being a conservative in the liberal world of Hollywood.

Muslim comics take stand-up routines to movie screens in 'Allah Made Me Fun

Fri, Oct 3

In 2004, Muslim comics Preacher Moss and Azhar Usman formed 'Allah Made Me Funny,' a comedy tour based around the American-Muslim experience. Friday, an independent movie based on the tour opens for a one-week run in theaters across the country.

British Guitarist James Blackshaw

Thu, Oct 2

His finger-style guitar has roots in the rustic avant-garde Americana of John Fahey, but also looks to Indian and new classical music.

Little Tiny Stories

Wed, Oct 1

Humorist Jack Handey reads several of his original tales. With the longest maxing out at four sentences, you'll wish he wrote sequels. They're from his collection What I'd Say to the Martians and Other Veiled Threats. With production by Jill BC DuBoff.

Interview with Anna Deavere Smith

Tue, Sep 30

Host Lisa Mullins speaks with Tony Award-winning actress Anna Deavere Smith about her on-going project called

Global Hit - Sergio Mendes

Mon, Sep 29

Brazilian bossa nova legend Sergio Mendes adds a dash of hip hop to his latest album,

Spike Lee

Fri, Sep 26

The director tells Kurt about Miracle at St. Anna, his new movie about a unit of black American soldiers sent to Italy during World War II. Lee also reflects on the election season, why he loves Obama, and his own impact as a filmmaker after 23 movies.

French-Alaskan cultural exchange

Thu, Sep 25

There's an unusual cultural exchange under way right now. France has the largest collection of Alaskan Alutiiq artifacts in the world. Dmae Roberts has the story.

The sweet, sweet sounds of a bailout: Handel, Wagner, Charlie Parker

Tue, Sep 23

This week we've been hearing a lot about giants of the American economy getting saved by the government. But the bailout isn't just the preserve of Wall Street. In fact, musicians have long since mastered the art of getting saved from financial ruin.

Theresa Andersson

Mon, Sep 22

She built her sound in New Orleans, but she was born and raised in rural Sweden. Andersson is DIY to the extreme, looping guitar, drums, fiddle, vocals, and vinyl record samples. She tells Kurt how she does it and performs live in the studio.

Big Ben chimes and bending time

Fri, Sep 19

The iconic chime of Big Ben marks the hours, but an artist found a way to bend time as the clock keeps it. The BBC partnered with American sound sculptor Bill Fontana on a public art project.

You Say You Want an Evolution

Thu, Sep 18

The new computer game "Spore" lets users create single-celled microbes and, as the game progresses, they "evolve" into complex creatures and highly developed civilizations. The game's creator, Will Wright, who also invented "The Sims," weighs in on the intelligent design debate, and gives Kurt pointers on how to create his very own species.

Art is still a good invetsment

Wed, Sep 17

Downturns are everywhere, except perhaps in the art market. Take for example the work of controversial artist Damien Hirst. His gold-hoofed cow in a vat of formaldehyde is expected to sell for millions today at Sothebys. The World's Laura Lynch reports.

Hurricane makes trouble for Jamaican musician

Tue, Sep 16

Jamaican reggae star, Claudius "Kingman" Linton, is making a comeback, even though Tropical Storm Gustav has destroyed his Jamaican home.

John Malkovich

Mon, Sep 15

From costume dramas to postmodern classics, the actor doesn't worry too much about being typecast. Malkovich tells Kurt about the delight of finally playing a character more pretentious than himself in the Coen Brothers' new comedy "Burn After Reading."

Kate McAlpine writes Large Hadron Collider Rap

Fri, Sep 12

Some people learn science from books, and physics from looking at traces of tiny particles ... or, for the general public, you can just hook up your iPod. Kate McAlpine penned the 'Large Hadron Rap' months ago, and it's gotten 1.6 million views since hitting Youtube. McAlpine talks physics with the Takeaway from Geneva, Switzerland.

Personality traits and musical preferences

Thu, Sep 11

A recent study suggests that the kind of music we prefer may have less to do with taste (or lack thereof) and more to do with our personalities. For example, being a fan of opera could indicate that you are a gentle soul, with high self esteem and a creative bent. Other genres have other implications, as Adrian North has researched.

Global Hit ? Fairuz

Wed, Sep 10

Many listeners wrote in after last week's conversation with singer Angelique Kidjo about music on her iPod. One song stood out for listeners as a memory from their past, but it had a different title. The World's Marco Werman tries to crack the case.

The Magnetic Fields

Tue, Sep 9

Stephin Merritt from The Magnetic Fields plays songs from the band's new album, Distortion, and talks to Faith about his music.

Mao the Poet

Mon, Sep 8

Mao Zedong believed in the radical transformation of every aspect of Chinese life.

''The Girl From Foreign''

Fri, Sep 5

Anchor Marco Werman speaks to Sadia Shepard about her new memoir,

Design for the Real World: Rock Band T-Shirt

Thu, Sep 4

Today rock band T-shirts are sold at major retailers, to kids who weren't alive when classic rock was born. But when music writer Johan Kugelberg was growing up in Sweden, wearing the Sex Pistols or Ramones on your chest was its own act of rebellion. Produced by Andrea Silenzi.

Global Hit

Wed, Sep 3

Host Marco Werman asks world music superstar Angelique Kidjo,

Pause, Play, Record

Tue, Sep 2

It's become a kind of sport for music-lovers to mourn yet another almost-obsolete technology. For Jocelyn Gonzales it's the cassette tape. Her old mix tapes can't be recreated in a playlist on iTunes - they're a special medium unto themselves.

A.J. Rossmiller

Fri, Aug 29

Former Pentagon intelligence analyst A.J. Rossmiller talks about how office politics, disorganization and political meddling has undermined U.S. intelligence capabilities in the Iraq war.