Last Friday, I took the Metro down to the studios of Voice of America to do an interview for their show Encounter. It was my first time in a radio studio and I must say that I had a lovely time. I had a chance to discuss the finer points of stem cell research with Dr. David Prentice from the Family Research Council (FRC). Even though I have many deep disagreements with just about all of FRC's positions, I found the conversations with Dr. Prentice to be thoughtful and civilized. We made our points clearly and did not jump down each others throats. We were even able to unpackage each others talking-points without playing a cheap game of "gotcha". For instance, I was able to explain the difference between research cloning and reproductive cloning, and then David explained why he thinks the distinction is arbitrary. I still think he's wrong, but we were able to demonstrate to our audience that we had an honest and legitimate difference of opinion. This is in contrast to so many other media debates which just seem like equal-opportunity deception. After the broadcast, David and I both bemoaned the fact that so few media outlets allow for such penetrating discussion; instead most discussions are short, shrill, contentious, and only serve to reinforce each side's preconceived notions...and then they cut to the next high-speed chase.
Below is a link to the stream/podcast. If you actually have 15 minutes to spare in today's fast-paced media environment, then take a listen. Let me know how I sound - personally, I don't like my own voice, but then again, I'm picky.
Enjoy!!
http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/encounter.cfm