Rather than the "liberal bias" rubric, file this one under "coarsening of the culture." We had a dubious first this morning: a network news host informing the world that one of her guests had just experienced a hot flash.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman was Meredith Vieira's guest for purposes of discussing the good news that scientists have discovered a way to extract stem cells from amniotic fluid and placentas, a breakthrough that could render moot the embryonic stem cell controversy.

But at the end of the interview, in promoting an upcoming segment devoted to menopause, Vieira "outed" Snyderman in these terms:

"You'll be back for our menopause series. And Nancy was actually fanning herself earlier. She had a hot flash. She knows what she's talking about."

Snyderman took it in good-natured stride, acknowledging with a chuckle "it's true, it's true."

Perhaps realizing she had gone too far, Meredith threw it back to Matt Lauer with a nervous laugh.

View video here.

If might have been understandable, perhaps even praiseworthy, had Snyderman in the course of the menopause segment decided to mention this herself. But was it really Vieira's role to "out" her guest in this way, or was this, to use the current phrase, too much information?

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net