John Stossel Rides Again

There aren’t enough people like John Stossel on television: smart, curious, cantankerous, and very willing to shoot at sacred cows. I say this not because Stossel hosted the recent hour-long 20/20 program on Freakonomics, but because I’ve always admired his reporting and especially his attitude. His recent 20/20 special on education, “Stupid in America,” is a particularly good example.

A couple of years ago, he wrote a best-selling book, Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media. (Yes, he has his own FAIR page.)

Now he has followed up with Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, which challenges conventional wisdom in a number of arenas, especially the media, medicine, parenting, and gender. The book is already a New York Times best-seller; here’s more information on Stossel and the new book. I am guessing that most people who hang on out Freakonomics.com would agree that Stossel has a lot to say that is worth hearing.