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The Brian Lehrer Show

Tuesday, December 03, 2002
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    All God's Critters Got A Place In The Choir

    The animal rights movement has come a long way since the 1970s when philosopher Peter Singer kicked off a wave of activism with his book "Animal Liberation". Just this year, Germany became the first country to include animal protection it its constitution and initiatives against animal cruelty are popping all over ballots in the US. But is it more productive to think in terms of "animal rights" or of "animal welfare"? We hear from Singer and from Michael Pollan, who recently published a response to Singer. Also, Mombasa, endangered pearl of the Indian Ocean, and the inner machinations of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The Straw That Broke The Camel's Back

Glenn Frankel, London bureau chief for the Washington Post, on British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's dossier on Iraq’s human rights violations

A New Train of Thought

Beverly Dolinsky, executive director of the MTA's Permanent Citizen's Advisory Committee, on the MTA's financial relationship to the state

Hakuna Matata No More

Giles Foden, author of Zanzibar (Faber & Faber, 2002) and The Last King of Scotland (Knopf, 1998), on the Mombassa that was

Animal Instincts

Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University and author of One World: The Ethics of Globalization (Yale, 2002) and Animal Liberation (Ecco Press, 1975), says animal rights trumps animal welfare

Animal Instincts

Michael Pollan, writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View (Random House, 2001) says animal welfare is more important than animal rights

Uncommon Indicators

The Brian Lehrer Show

The Brian Lehrer Show wants to hear how the economy is affecting the little things in your daily life. Share your stories and photos of the downturn.

Cast your vote for our video contest semi-finalists.

The Rocky Road Ahead

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Ray Young, the chief financial officer of General Motors, talks about GM’s bankruptcy.

Then, Damon Lester, president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, and Greg Williams, former owner of the recently closed Huntington Chevrolet in Huntington Station, NY., discusses the effect GM’s bankruptcy has had on dealerships and their employees.

Tweet If You Use Twitter

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Farhad Manjoo, Slate's technology columnist and the author of True Enough: Learning To Live in a Post-Fact Society talks about what Twitter means and how different groups use it.

What's your take on Twitter? How do you use it? Comment below!

Don't Say That, Literally

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John Flansburgh of the band They Might Be Giants discusses the running list the band keeps of "things we can no longer say." (a few examples: "my bad" "don't go there" "one hundred and ten percent" and "voted off the island")

What would be on your list of banned words or phrases? Comment below!

From Denmark with Love

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Jesper Grunwald, senior managing editor with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, talks about the Danish economy, biking to work, and why the Danes are allegedly the happiest people in the world.

Squatting, Then and Now

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As former squats in the East Village make the transition to coops, making homes from abandoned housing is again an issue. Andrew Reicher executive director of Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, Frank Morales an Episcopal priest involved in East Village/Lower East Side squatting and homelessness activism since the late '70s, and Rob Robinson, a leader of the Housing Campaign of Picture the Homeless, discuss the return of squatting.

Video Picks

The Brian Lehrer Show

Check out some recent video clips of interviews with guests and Brian Lehrer's weekly Web video picks.