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The Brian Lehrer Show / February 11, 2003

The Brian Lehrer Show

Tuesday, February 11, 2003
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  • Sad Clown

    The McDonald's franchise belongs to the rare club of brands whose symbolic value transcends the product it was designed to sell. There's even a "big mac index" to measure purchasing power in different countries. But recently Ronald McDonald has worn a sad clown face: for the first time in its 47-year history, the company has posted a quarterly loss. Also on the show: Economist editor Bill Emmott, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, and how many casualties in Iraq?

Duct Tape and Cover

Charles Aswad, MD, executive vice president of the Medical Society of the State of NY and Jim Francis, senior vice president of Kroll inc, a security consulting, on preparing for terrorist attack

Gif Us a Break!

City Council Speaker Gifford Miller (D-5th district), wants the commuter tax to be reinstated

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Douglass Cassel, director, Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University's School of Law and Beth Osborne Daponte, senior research scientist at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, on projecting the civilian casualty toll in a war on Iraq.

Lessons For The New Century

Bill Emmott, editor in chief of the Economist, says 21st century diplomats have a lot to learn from 20th century flubs

Sad Clown

Karen Springen, Chicago correspondent for Newsweek, explains Ronald McDonald's grimace

A person dressed as a bear to represent a bear market performs outside the New York Stock Exchange on October 6, 200 in New York. Wall Street tumbled after the opening bell as fallout from the credit crisis triggered concerns about the economy and the Dow fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years.

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!

Ray Young, General Motors Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

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.

paper trail small

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!

(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexerde/80417539/">alexerde</a>/flickr)

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!

happiness

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.

Judge Sotomayor

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.