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"How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff"

By Rich Fisher

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-968382.mp3

Tulsa, Oklahoma – On this installment of StudioTulsa, we speak with the acclaimed journalist and author James B. Stewart, whose books include the bestsellers "Blood Sport" and "Den of Thieves," among others. Stewart won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for his reporting on the stock market crash and insider trading; he's now a regular contributor to SmartMoney and The New Yorker. He joins us on today's show to discuss his latest book, "Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff." Here's part of a review of this book that appeared on-line at The Daily Beast: "Through three decades, eight books, and countless articles, James Stewart has made exposing liars the touchstone of his career. In 'Tangled Webs,' he focuses on a particular type of lie --- perjury --- and blows open the stories of four blockbuster trials, with previously secret testimony, investigators notes, and a bevy of exclusive interviews. All four of his subjects --- Martha Stewart, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Barry Bonds, and Bernie Madoff --- have been convicted of some deception-related crime. What Stewart does is pinpoint the moment each person parted with the truth. The results (all 473 pages of them) are startling --- and so is the backdrop. Stewart raises the specter of 'a surge of concerted, deliberate lying' by the nation's loftiest citizens, one that encourages lying by a wider circle of society and ultimately undermines 'civilization itself.'"