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The Brian Lehrer Show

Friday, August 29, 2003
  • The Ghettoes of East New York

    In 1966 riots broke out in Brooklyn’s blighted East New York. The mayor at the time, John Lindsay, tapped city planner Walter Thabit to help solve the neighborhood’s problems. We’ll talk to Thabit about the decay and apartheid-like conditions that have plagued East New York for decades, and about recent signs of revitalization. Also, a former deputy Mayor and member of the Charter Revision Commission on why he’s voting against nonpartisan elections.

The Voices of the World Trade Center

Dr. Shyam Sunder, Lead Investigator at the National Institute for Standards and Technology in the federal investigation of the World Trade Center and Andrea Bernstein, WNYC Reporter, on the Port Authority transcripts of calls made from the WTC on September 11 and the continuing federal investigation of disaster

Political Machine Maintenance

Bill Lynch, Member of the Mayor's Charter Revision Commission on non-partisan elections, former Deputy Mayor of the City of New York under David Dinkins, and CEO of Bill Lynch, finds fault with Mayor Bloomberg’s plan for non-partisan elections

East of Eden

Walter Thabit, Community Planner and author, How East New York Became a Ghetto (New York University Press), on the rise and fall of East New York, Brooklyn

Open Phones

The Art of Politics

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.