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Connections

Coming up on Connections: Wednesday, September 20th

NPR/Dan Steinberg/Invision for the Television Academy

First hour: The debate over punching Nazis

Second hour: What happens when we blend politics, journalism, and entertainment?

The videos have gone viral: people punching Nazis in the streets. The latest involved a man in Seattle, wearing a Swastika armband. He takes a punch so violent that he is knocked unconscious and loses a tooth. And while it might be tempting to laugh or share these videos, even people like Noam Chomsky warn that it's not a good idea to punch anyone -- Nazis included. There are still ideological debates to win, they say. Our guests:

  • Kit Miller, director of the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
  • Lawrence Torcello, RIT professor of philosophy specializing in moral theory and applied ethics

Then in our second hour, what happens when we blend politics, journalism, and entertainment? In one sense, we get appearances like Sean Spicer at the Emmys this past weekend. We also see such blending at Geva's Summer Curtain Call, and the White House Correspondents' Dinner in years past. But the Spicer appearance sparked some backlash amongst those who say it waves away the serious problem of lying for an administration; people who are more vulnerable aren't laughing at Spicer's star turn. So where is the line? Our guests:

  • Mark Cuddy, artistic director of Geva Theatre Center
  • David Andreatta, columnist for the Democrat & Chronicle
  • Chris Thompson, comedian and activist
  • Linda Starkweather, artist-at-large
Connections
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.