62: Murphy Brown vs Dan Quayle; Or, A Culture War Casserole (Comes With Baked Potatoe)

This Was A Thing: The Retro Podcast

Nov 8 2022 • 50 mins

If you turn back the clocks to the early 90s, it would be impossible to avoid all the late night jokes about Vice President Dan Quayle. Likewise, if you followed the 90s TV scene, you couldn't miss the fact that Candice Bergen was raking in the Emmys for her role as the titular Murphy Brown on CBS. So when two media behemoths like that unexpectedly went head-to-head, it was bound to be a battle for the ages...

Rob teaches Ray about Dan Quayle's life and career, and his sudden rise to prominence as the running mate of George H. Dubya Bush; how the Republican decision to focus more heavily on "traditional family values" emerged partly as an attack against Bill and Hillary Clinton; when spelling really does matter; why the V.P.'s condemnation of single mother families in general, and Murphy Brown in particular, brought him such a backlash; and how the outrage stirred up by this clash of cultural titans continues to this day.

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TEAM

Ray Hebel

Robert W. Schneider

Mark Schroeder

Billy Recce

Daniel Schwartzberg

Gabe Crawford

Natalie DeSavia

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