When Politics and Pop Culture Merge

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 6, 2008 at 6:38 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

What happens when pop culture mixes with politics? What effects can celebrities have on the way we look at political candidates? Host Tom Fudge speaks to James Fowler and Timothy Moore about the role

Tom Fudge : Electoral coverage isn't what it used to be. One of the things you do see a lot of nowadays is the appearance by presidential and other candidates on entertainment TV programs. That's right. It's not the "New York Times" that gets the exclusive interviews. It's David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey and Jon Stewart.

Whether this is good or bad for democracy depends on your point of view. But this is a way that candidates reach voters, and it can be a very effective way. This morning I'm going to speak with a couple of scholars who have studied the phenom of popular entertainment, as it relates to political contests.

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Guests

James Fowler , political science professor at UC, San Diego.
Timothy Moore , economics scholar at the University of Maryland.