T A B L E_.T A L K

Can anything be done to halt the decline of classical music radio? Share your thoughts in the Media area of Table Talk

R E C E N T L Y

Game over
By James Poniewozik
Keith Olbermann is bemused as hell and he's not going to take it anymore
(12/01/98)

Democracy on life support
By Steve Erickson
The cynical Starr hearings were to their Watergate precursors as Jack Kevorkian is to Mother Teresa
(11/25/98)

What kind of woman reads Playboy?
By James Poniewozik
After 45 years, your grandfather's skin magazine is trying to be all things to all groins
(11/24/98)

Boy story?
By Susan Lehman
A former editor charges that the New Yorker's fiction has gone off the deep end of the testosterone scale
(11/19/98)

Starr dust, pundit bust
By Steve Erickson
The independent counsel will crash and burn on Thursday -- and the humiliated pundits will be too afraid to say anything about it until the polls come in
(11/18/98)

- - - - - - - - - -

BROWSE THE
MEDIA CIRCUS
ARCHIVE

S A L O N
E M P O R I U M
FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.

AHOY, MATES! | PAGE 1, 2
- - - - - - - - - -

We don't just report the news, we make it

Days after he told the Judiciary Committee that he did not appear on TV talk shows, Kenneth Starr appeared on a magazine show, "20/20," whereupon he gave Diane Sawyer unsurprising answers to questions about his views on infidelity, his office and his investigation of President Clinton. Nor was it surprising that Starr gave his first prime-time interview to "20/20" -- which reportedly beat out competition from other shows at ABC and other network shows like "60 Minutes."

The "20/20" interview with Sawyer was produced by Chris Vlasto, a name familiar to readers of Jim McDougal's "Arkansas Mischief." In his book, which was written with Curtis Wilkie, McDougal credits Vlasto with convincing him to cooperate with Starr's investigation.

Wilkie remembers that Vlasto spent a lot of time in Arkansas in his capacity as producer in charge of ABC's Whitewater coverage and that Vlasto was probably the one news guy McDougal felt most comfortable with. Wilkie remembers that shortly after his conviction, McDougal confided to Vlasto that he (rightly, it turned out) feared he would die in prison. In the book, McDougal writes that Vlasto responded by saying, "'Listen Jim, you don't have to go out this way. Walk in to see Kenneth Starr, he'll greet you with open arms.' He recommended that I at least talk with the independent counsel." McDougal's subsequent cooperation set the Whitewater investigation and all that was to follow in motion.

Any conflict involved in Vlasto's playing a role in the story of the Starr investigation and producing a piece on it? Vlasto wouldn't comment. ABC's Washington bureau chief did not return a call seeking information as to whether the network has rules governing whether producers may produce segments on stories in which they play a part.

Where's the Tickle Me Stoic doll?

Movie tie-ins are old hat, but here's a new one: book tie-ins. Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full" apparently makes mention of Epictetus, the venerable first century Stoic philosopher who was born a Roman slave. Enter HarperCollins, trumpeting Epictetus' "A Manual for Living: A New Interpretation" and "The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness," in modern translation, published -- since 1994 and 1995 -- by HarperCollins.

"If Wolfe sparks an explosion of interest in Epictetus, we want people to know we're the ones who have these volumes," says an amused HarperCollins spokesperson who voiced the hope that, as the ancient text "The Art of War" became a bible for the business-minded in the go-go '80s, perhaps Epictetus might guide the multitudes during the remainder of the more austere '90s.

Epictetus' formula for a happy, meaningful and flourishing life comes in the form of clean, aphoristic instruction, viz., "Know What You Can Control and What You Can't," "Seeking to Please Is a Perilous Trap," "Stay Away From Most Popular Entertainment" and, a special one for those attending the First Annual Nation Seminar Cruise, "Speak Only With Good Purpose."

The HarperCollins spokesperson concedes that Epictetus sales weren't exactly zooming along before "A Man in Full," but says it's too soon to tell whether the Wolfe book will cause a bump in sales.

Jonathan Kwitny dies

Jonathan Kwitny, 57, died of cancer last week in New York. Kwitny, an excellent investigative journalist and a gentleman, was the author of eight books, including one on the CIA and one on drug smuggling for people with AIDS. His latest book was "Man of the Century: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II." There will be a memorial service in New York on Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Friends Meeting House on Rutherford and East 15th streets.
SALON | Dec. 4, 1998