At 4 p.m. today, world-famous social activist, writer and MIT linguistics expert Noam Chomsky will be interviewed on RainyDawg Radio's Don't Listen To This Show to answer questions about his personal activism, among other topics.

Chomsky is known for his contributions to the scientific study of language, but is mostly recognized for his analyses on politics, media and foreign policy. He is the author of Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance and Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy.

Matt Dundas, host of Don't Listen To This Show, sent Chomsky an e-mail delineating the premise of his program and convinced him to talk to the UW via radio.

"I told him that we were sincerely interested in hearing his thoughts on a range of issues and that it could help spark dialogue on campus and motivate students to engage in civic participation," Dundas said. "I'm not sure that a 30-minute interview can do that — but if there's anyone who could, it would probably be Noam Chomsky."

RainyDawg General Manager, Jeffrey Echert, was pleased with Dundas' ability to get Chomsky on board.

"I was incredibly impressed that he did it," Echert said. "That's the kind of motivation that we'd really like to have in DJs. Self-promotion is really important. [Dundas] printed up all the flyers you might see around campus just this week and everywhere to get the word out that this was happening."

Dundas' talk show prides itself on covering progressive social activism on campus, in the community and across the country. It debuted in November 2006 and has included a variety of guests from the Sierra Student Coalition to Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana / Chicano de Aztlan. Last week, an Olympia City councilmember came on the show to discuss his arrest at the Port of Tacoma protests last month.

Dundas is thrilled that Chomsky, whom The New York Times touts as "the most important intellectual alive," agreed to tape a show with him.

"These kinds of guests demonstrate the seriousness with which we work to produce a high-quality program for the UW community each week," Dundas said. "We plan to continue reaching out to other mainstream guests who can articulate the connections between decisions that are made in Olympia and Washington D.C., and the impacts those decisions have on people's lives."

Reach reporter Anthony Shelley at news@thedaily.washington.edu.