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The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.

We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, December 20th.

Tech news website The Verge reported Thursday that FCC chairman Brendan Carr faced lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week in his first Senate hearing since he threatened ABC and local TV stations in September over airing Jimmy Kimmel Live!, remarks that even some Republicans say crossed a line. Carr spent nearly three hours before the Senate Commerce Committee, clashing repeatedly with Democrats over comments he made after Kimmel joked about the political ideology of the killer of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk. At the time, Carr had told broadcasters they could deal with the FCC “the easy way or the hard way.” However, Carr now insists that was not a threat, calling criticism from Democrats “projection and distortion.”

The Verge says Carr refused to express regret for his statements, saying his job is to enforce the FCC’s “public interest” standard, and that broadcast television is different from other media. But Democratic senators said Carr is weaponizing the agency to silence speech. One FCC commissioner, Democrat Anna Gomez, warned that the public interest standard is being used as cover for censorship, calling it “contrary to the First Amendment.” Even Republican committee chair Ted Cruz compared Carr’s language to “mafia talk.”

During the Senate hearing on Wednesday, The Verge further reports that Brendan Carr said under oath that the FCC is no longer an independent government agency, directly contradicting how the FCC has long described itself. During a tense exchange, Carr refused to say that the commission operates separately from the White House, and when asked whether the FCC’s own website was wrong to call it an independent agency, he said “possibly.” Shortly after, the word “independent” was removed from the FCC’s website, which The Verge warned is a clear signal that the FCC is operating directly under the control of Trump and his administration. So far, The Verge says that Carr has rejected calls to resign as FCC chairman, and there’s little sign that Congress will act, as concerns continue to fester over the future of free speech on these public airwaves.

Meanwhile, in higher education news, the New York Times reported last week that “a conservative overhaul of the University of Texas is underway.” UT Austin had historically been a liberal stronghold in the conservative state, but now the campus is “no longer led by an academic, but instead by a Republican lawyer,” the Times said. The University of Texas has promised curriculum changes that favor conservative ideas, restricted academic speech around race and gender, gutted faculty control, and gave the state power to approve its academic leaders. Students at UT Austin told the Times they were considering transferring out of Texas as a result. It’s all part of an ongoing “aggressive attack against higher education” by the Trump administration, the Times reported.

Finally tonight, the Times also reported on Monday that beloved film director and actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were killed at their own home on Sunday, allegedly by their own 32-year-old son, Nick. Reiner directed a string of legendary films in the ’80s and ’90s, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and A Few Good Men. In recent years, he was highly visible as a vocal advocate for progressive political causes, including LGBTQ* equality.

The Times further reported that Donald Trump seized on Reiner’s death to make a series of baseless attacks against him, drawing widespread outrage across the political spectrum. Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, said on Monday, “This is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.” Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said, “He’s just lost it,” and added on Wednesday that Trump’s constant and relentless attacks on American people and institutions show that he’s “such a sad, damaged person.”

And that’s… the news.

The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.

We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, December 6th.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the University of Oklahoma placed one of its instructors on administrative leave after a student complained about religious discrimination for receiving a zero on an essay she wrote for a psychology class that was not based in any scientific foundation but instead cited the Bible and called the existence of multiple genders “demonic.” The decision to suspend the professor, who is trans, resulted in widespread condemnation of the University of Oklahoma, which is just one in a long line of universities this year, including UK, that have suspended their own faculty or staff after conservatives complained, according to the Times.

Independent journalist Parker Molloy wrote about the subject Tuesday, saying, “Somewhere, right now, a trans person is doing their job, but at some point, someone is going to have a problem with them because they’re trans. That person will take their grievance to the media, and it won’t matter what actually happened. The news will cover the [so-called] ‘controversy’, and the trans person will be put on leave, fired, or resign. And then the conservative who started it all will go on Fox News and get a GoFundMe.” Molloy went on to say, “This is a pattern. We’ve watched it happen over and over again, and we will keep watching it happen until the institutions that capitulate to these campaigns start recognizing them for what they are: coordinated attempts to purge trans people from public life.”

In other higher education news, The Atlantic published an article this week with the title, “Colleges Are Preparing to Self-Lobotomize,” arguing that, “The skills that students will need in an age of automation are precisely those that are eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.” The author, Michael Cline, wrote in the piece, “Technology professors believe that no one yet understands how to integrate AI into curricula without risking terrible educational consequences. It’s difficult to imagine a market for graduates whose thinking, interpreting and communicating has been offloaded to a machine.” This news comes after UK last month announced its “CATS AI” initiative, launching an Artificial Intelligence major and partnering with Microsoft to infuse AI into the workflows of UK students, faculty and staff, as reported by the Kentucky Kernel.

Also here at home, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Linda Blackford wrote on Thursday about UK’s decision this week to fire its football coach, Mark Stoops, and pay out the remainder of his contract. Blackford wrote in the piece, “How could UK afford to pay $38 million over 60 days? We don’t know.” Earlier this year, UK funneled its athletics department into a limited liability company called Champions Blue, which requires fewer transparency disclosures, according to the Herald-Leader. “All this points to UK reaching peak corporate status, one in which various parts of what used to be a university have been parceled off into LLCs or into public/private partnerships. None of that is fundamentally improving UK, where professors and researchers are being told to save money and cut back. The last thing anyone talks about these days is educating students,” Blackford said.

Finally tonight, in media news, The New York Times reported that Netflix announced plans on Friday to acquire Warner Bros. in an $82 billion deal that “will send shockwaves through Hollywood and the broader media landscape. Netflix is already the world’s largest paid streaming service, with more than 300 million subscribers. Bulking up Netflix with Warner Bros. and HBO would create a colossus that could force smaller companies to merge as they scramble to compete,” the Times said. A group of feature film producers sent a letter to Congress on Thursday about what they said are their “grave concerns” with the deal, writing, “Netflix views any time spent watching a movie in a theater as time not spent on their platform. They have no incentive to support theatrical exhibition, and they have every incentive to kill it.”

And that’s… the news.

The content you hear on this program has not been reviewed by WRFL prior to broadcast and is produced under the discretion of its host DJs, and does not reflect the views of the University of Kentucky, WRFL, or its underwriters.

We’ll get back to the music on 120 Minutes in just a moment, but first, it’s 12:30 and it’s time to check the news, for this week, November 22nd.

The Kentucky Kernel reported this week that as the University of Kentucky continues to rush to comply with federal guidance and the state’s House Bill 4, students say they’re being left almost entirely in the dark about what’s happening. As we’ve told you about on the show in recent weeks, UK has revoked support for what it calls “identity-based” student organizations, eliminated gender-inclusive housing, halted preferred name and gender updates on student records, and according to students, frozen their organizational bank accounts that contain not only public funds, but privately raised donor money as well. Some students also told the Kernel they’ve had scholarships removed without warning, learning of the change only after checking their online accounts. All of this has unfolded with no public announcement and little to no written explanation to those most impacted, the Kernel said.

Instead, UK academic leadership has sent internal emails to faculty instructing them not to discuss UK’s DEI compliance with the media, even when they’re asked about their own experiences, telling them it could carry risks. UK’s PR office says it’s meant to protect employees. The Kernel’s reporting confirms that nearly everyone who has commented on the new restrictions has done so anonymously. The Kernel also said that UK has still not clearly defined what “identity-based” activities are, and religious groups have only now been quietly added to the list of restricted organizations after the Kernel pointed out those inconsistencies on UK’s website. Meanwhile, fraternities and sororities appear to be exempt from these restrictions due to separate federal classifications, the Kernel said.

UK officials insist they’re following the law and are trying to provide only “targeted communication,” but students argue that the secrecy is the problem. One student leader described the process to the Kernel as “shrouded behind a curtain,” saying that even a basic acknowledgment from UK explaining what’s happening and why could help reduce fear and confusion. Others told the Kernel that UK’s approach has left some of its most vulnerable students unsure of where they stand or whether their organizations will survive at all. The moderator of a student panel on the issue said, “UK is under a lot of pressure right now, but there is a conversation to be had about the consequences of its full-throated, almost enthusiastic, compliance with these guidelines,” the Kernel reported. More updates on this ongoing situation can be found at kykernel.com.

In other news, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Friday that the fight over dense student housing on East Maxwell took a major turn Wednesday night, when the city council voted 8-7 to deny a zone change for a 332-unit HUB apartment complex. The vote came after a marathon 7-hour public hearing where neighbors argued that the block of 1920s multi-unit homes has already been overwhelmed by two other large student complexes approved earlier this year. Residents warned that demolishing yet another block of historic buildings would worsen traffic on an already narrow Maxwell Street and erase some of the last affordable units near campus. The narrow vote underscored wider tensions between UK and the city of Lexington, with some council members calling for the revival of a long-disbanded committee that once coordinated housing planning. More details on that story can be found at kentucky.com.

Finally tonight, WKYT reported Friday that dozens gathered in Lexington Thursday night for the Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil, honoring lives lost and calling attention to the dangers trans Kentuckians continue to face. Organizers say that constant hostility is driving a mental-health crisis in the community, and events like these remind trans people in Kentucky that they’re not alone. District 4 council member Emma Curtis was at the event to announce a proclamation officially recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance in Lexington, making it the first city in Kentucky to do so.

And that’s… the news.