Julian Assange: The Next Oprah?

The Takeaway

From Oprah to Piers Morgan, the world loves a good talk show. And if the multiple seasons of Celebrity Apprentice have taught us anything, audiences also love reality TV shows featuring pseudo celebrities.  Yesterday, a program premiered that’s a tiny bit of both.  Entitled “The World Today,” the new talk show is hosted by Julian Assange, the man most famous for founding WikiLeaks. Assange tapes the show from the home where he is on house-arrest. The program airs on RT, a Kremlin-backed news network and website.
Alessandra Stanley, television critic for The New York Times, watched the first episode of “The World Today.” She shares her thoughts on whether Assange might be the next Ellen, or just another candidate for Celebrity Big Brother.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.