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The Brian Lehrer Show

Thursday, December 12, 2002
  • Expensive Goals

    Madeline Albright's 1996 contention in a TV interview that the death of 500,000 Iraqi children was the "worth the price" dismayed--but did not shock--many Americans. Sanctions on Iraq have stood since 1991 with the conditions for their end shifting according to the demands of the US administration. But their success has been dubious and the President continues to thwart the importation of about half of the humanitarian goods allowed by law. Also on the show, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Indiana Congressman Dan Burton's Colombia insurrection, and Kofi Annan on the state of the world.

Stick to Your Principals

Joel Klein, New York City Schools Chancellor, is setting up a leadership initiative for school principals

Open Phones

Listeners' comments on the Chancellor's plan and the feistiness of former mayor Ed Koch

$2 Billion And Nothing To Show For It

Robin Kirk, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch and author of More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Colombia (Public Affairs, January 2003), on the costly and ineffective drug war in Colombia www.hrw.org

Worth 500,000 Deaths?

Joy Gordon, professor of philosophy at Fairfield University and author of A Peaceful, Silent Deadly Remedy: The Ethics of Economic Sanctions (Harvard University Press, Spring 2004) believes economic sanctions are another form of warfare.

Open Phones

Listeners' calls on whether it's time to reconsider past Israeli-Palestinian agreements and build from the unconcluded Taba negotiations.

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.

Just Launched! The Uncommon Economic Indicators Video Contest. All the details here!

The Rocky Road Ahead

The Brian Lehrer Show

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

The Brian Lehrer Show

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

The Brian Lehrer Show

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

The Brian Lehrer Show

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

The Brian Lehrer Show

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.