The Talker: 5 Things On Our Radar Today

Tom Wolfe’s A Man in Full is a massive book, in more ways than one. A 742-page social novel with an iconoclastic Atlanta real estate mogul at its center, it took Wolfe over a decade to research and write. When it was published, in 1998, Farrar, Straus & Giroux ordered a jaw-dropping initial print run of 1.2 million hardcover copies; two years later, it had sold 1.4 million.

Ordered by police to leave the scene of a UCLA campus protest after violence broke out, Catherine Hamilton and three colleagues from the Daily Bruin suddenly found themselves surrounded by demonstrators who beat, kicked and sprayed them with a noxious chemical. On American campuses awash in anger this spring, student journalists are in the center of it all, sometimes uncomfortably so.

Brent Terhune is back and he's talking about Governor Puppy Killer, aka Kristi Noem. He says that Puppy Killer did a good thing and saved countless lives because you can't have a little baby Cujo running around scooting on the carpet, chewing on a shoe you left out or doing other puppy things.

It’s been more than 50 years since Columbia University became the site of student demonstrations amid unrest over the Vietnam War, but the spirit of protest on campus remains strong. Late Tuesday night, dozens of protestors sieged Hamilton Hall—the iconic site of numerous student occupations over the course of history—and unfurled a banner to reveal the building’s new name by protestors: “Hind’s Hall.” The designation was in honor of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza.

Student protests over the ongoing conflict in Gaza have become a thorny issue for President Joe Biden and many Democrats, drawing attention to his Administration’s stance on Israel and highlighting divisions within the party. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The protests, which have erupted on campuses like Columbia University and UCLA, present a delicate balancing act for Biden as he navigates the complexities of U.

The first calls that Dr. Barb Petersen received in early March were from dairy owners worried about crows, pigeons and other birds dying on their Texas farms. Then came word that barn cats — half of them on one farm — had died suddenly. Within days, the Amarillo veterinarian was hearing about sick cows with unusual symptoms: high fevers, reluctance to eat and much less milk.