A Four Part Series from TTBOOK!

Public Radio International

Wisconsin Public Radio

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO POP CULTURE

Program 09-10-18-A

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Have you ever heard of Bibleman, the Caped Christian? This evangelical superhero quotes scripture while fighting villains. There's a Bibleman video series, as well as a live show, toys, and a computer game. Bibleman is just part of the seven-billion-dollar Christian pop culture industry. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll explore this growing subculture. Also, we'll find out how a British biologist transformed himself into a pop-culture guru nicknamed Dr. Sex.

SEGMENT 1:

Richard Poplak is the author of "The Sheik's Batmobile: In Pursuit of American Pop Culture in the Muslim World." He tells Anne Strainchamps about the ill-fated attempt to adapt The Simpsons for the Arab world.

SEGMENT 2:

Daniel Radosh is the author of "Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture." Radosh, a liberal New York secular Jew, is married to a woman whose family is born-again Christian. They took Radosh to a Christian rock festival and introduced him the world of Christian pop culture. Also, award winning writer Pagan Kennedy has written an essay about Dr. Alex Comfort, the pioneering sex researcher behind the book "The Joy of Sex." It's the title essay in her book "The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories." Kennedy tells Steve Paulson about Dr. Comfort and his research assistant/partner.

SEGMENT 3:

Nathan Rabin is the head writer for "The Onion's" entertainment section, "A.V. Club." His book is "The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You by Popular Culture." Rabin explains the pivotal role popular culture has played throughout his life. TTBOOK produced Doug Gordon prepared this report.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 09-10-18-A.

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Books & CDs:

Daniel Radosh, Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture (Scribner)
Pagan Kennedy, The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex and Other True Stories (Santa Fe Writers Project)
Nathan Rabin, The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You by Pop Culture (Scribner)
Richard Poplak, The Sheikh's Batmobile: In Pursuit of American Pop Culture in the Muslim World (Penguin Canada)

Websites:

• -- Richard Poplak/“The Sheik’s Batmobile”
  http://www.richardpoplak.com/updates/
  http://www.sheikhsbatmobile.com/
  
• -- Daniel Radosh/ “Rapture Ready!”
  http://www.radosh.net/
  http://www.getraptureready.com/
  
• -- Pagan Kennedy
  http://www.pagankennedy.net/
  
• -- Nathan Rabin/“The Big Rewind”
  http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Nathan-Rabin
  http://books.simonandschuster.com/Big-Rewind/Nathan-Rabin/9781416556206

Clips:

• -- Clip from “Al Shamshoon” heard in Richard Poplak interview:
  from the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation TV series, “Al Shamshoon”
  http://www.sheikhsbatmobile.com/#

• -- Clip from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” heard in Nathan Rabin interview:
  from the “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: Two-Disc Special Edition” DVD
  (Warner Home Video)
  http://tinyurl.com/yf2phh3

• -- Clip from “Homer’s Enemy” episode of “The Simpsons” heard in Nathan Rabin interview:
  from “The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season Collector’s Edition” DVD (20th Century Fox)
  http://www.thesimpsons.com/index.html

Music:

• -- Music heard in Richard Poplak interview:
• -- “Min Il Kaheff”/Ramallah Underground featured DJ Lethal Skillz (Ramallah, Palestine, and Beirut, Lebanon)
  http://www.sheikhsbatmobile.com/
• -- “14”/Farzad (Tehran, Iran)
  http://www.sheikhsbatmobile.com/
• -- Music heard in Daniel Radosh interview:
  -- “Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt”/mewithoutYou
  from the CD, “A to B: Life” (Tooth & Nail Records)
  http://www.mewithoutyou.com/
• -- Music heard after Daniel Radosh interview:
  -- “Bittersweet Samba” (Mocean Worker Remix)/Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass
  from the CD, “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass: Whipped Cream Rewhipped” (Shout! Factory)
  http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=210
• -- Songs heard after Pagan Kennedy interview:
  -- “All You Ever Think About Is Sex”/Sparks
  from the CD, “Sparks 12” Mixes” (Oglio Records)
  http://www.allsparks.com/
  http://www.myspace.com/allsparks
  http://www.oglio.com/webs/pages/home.shtml
• -- “Green Peppers” (Anthony Marinelli Remix)/Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass
  from the CD, “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass: Whipped Cream Rewhipped” (Shout! Factory)
  http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=210
• -- Song heard in Nathan Rabin interview:
  -- “Lose Yourself”/Eminem
  from the CD, “8 Mile: Music From And Inspired by the Motion Picture” (Shady Records)
  http://www.eminem.com/
  http://www.myspace.com/eminem
• -- Music heard after Nathan Rabin interview:
  -- “Lemon Tree” (Thievery Corporation Remix)/Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass
  from the CD, “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass: Whipped Cream Rewhipped” (Shout! Factory)
  http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=210

Distribution dates: week of 08/08/2010 - hour 2 week of 10/18/2009 - hour 2 click HERE for timings and cues

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