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Comedy and the Crash

WBAI hosts a festive, as well as hilarious evenings exploration of the economy with acclaimed economist and political columnist Paul Krugman and comedian and social/political oracle Reno.

KRUGMAN, who was named Columnist of the Year by Editor and Publisher magazine, writes a twice-weekly column for the op-ed page of the New York Times. His blistering analysis of the "new Gilded Age" of the Bush years has made his work a must-read for progressive thinkers. A winner of the John Bates Clark Medal, the most prized award given to American economists, Krugman also teaches economics and international affairs at Princeton University. His latest book, The Conscience of a Liberal is on re-shaping public debate about American social policy and explains what can by done to turn the clock forward again, narrow the wealth and income gap, and re-design the economic playing field.

When Bill Clinton came into office in 1992, it's believed he considered Krugman for a leading post and flew Krugman out for a meeting in Arkansas. It's also believed that Krugman's outspokenness got between him and a job offer: As Krugman told Newsweek, "I'm temperamentally unsuited for that kind of role. You have to be very good at people skills, biting your tongue when people say silly things."

RENO is the creator of such one-woman shows as Rebel Without A Pause, Reno in Rage and Rehab, The God Show and Reno Once Removed. The first two of these stage productions were adapted for film or television, along with Reno Finds Her Mom (the plight of a half Cuban, half Puerto Rican, 100% lesbian adopted by two square white parents from Queens). Her latest incarnation is as Citizen Reno, a firebrand character who emerged with explosive honesty and courage following the events of 9/11 and whose cathartic comedy inspired the Boston Phoenix to call her "The woman who made it safe to laugh about terrorism."

So join us for this landmark evening on which we predict that Krugman will decipher the American economic precipice after Reno dives off it.