
YouTube Nation
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The walk to the zoo that turned into a billion-dollar deal.
How did YouTube become an overnight Internet success? Plus, the UN calls October a record-breaking deadly month for Iraqi
citizens, and a window on life and death nearly a millennium
ago. The spectacular discovery of pre-Incan tombs in Peru. Sara Terry guest hosts.
Making News
UN Cites Record-High Monthly Death Toll for Iraqi Civilians ()
In Baghdad, the United Nations announced today that 3709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October. It's the highest monthly toll since the US-led invasion in March, 2003. It's also far higher than the count of nearly 2900 American soldiers killed during the entire conflict. The news comes just a week before President Bush is scheduled to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister in Jordan to discuss speeding up the transfer of security control to Iraq.
Guests:
- Louise Roug: Reporter for the Los Angeles Times
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Main Topic
YouTube Video-Sharing Site Is Changing Popular Culture ()
Find out what happens when you put a box of Mentos in a bottle of Diet Coke. Watch a US senator make the mistake that lost him the race. It all started with one video of a trip to the zoo. Now, less than two years later, YouTube features 100 million videos, enjoys 20 million visitors each month, and has won Time magazine's Invention of the Year Award. The founders of the Internet site have cashed in big, selling to Google for more than $1.65 billion. The video-sharing site has created a video village on the web, where anyone can be a star, from lip-synching teenage girls to skateboarding dogs. It even played an unexpected role in this year's elections. What is YouTube's appeal in a media-saturated age? Who's using it and why? How is it helping to redefine copyright issues? Sara Terry guest hosts.
Guests:
- Lev Grossman: Staff writer for Time magazine
- Robert Thompson: Professor of Popular Culture at Syracuse University
- Bryant Fisher: Film student at Pratt Institute in New York City
- Julie Barko Germany: Deputy Director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet
- Wendy Seltzer: Visiting Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School
Links:
Reporter's Notebook
Archeologists Excavate 1000 Year-Old Tombs in Northern Peru ()
Archaeologists working in Peru announced yesterday that they have made an important find, a complex of tombs that casts new light on the Sicán culture, which pre-dates the Incas. The excavations, about 400 miles northwest of Lima, were launched by an anthropology professor at Southern Illinois University and the director of Perú's Sicán National Museum.
Guests:
- Izumi Shimada: Professor of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University
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