The Brian Lehrer Show

Decoding Part D

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Seniors have long lobbied for a Medicare prescription drug benefit, and this week it became a reality. But the program, known as Part D, confronts seniors with a baffling array of competing plans, and some say it’s too complex to understand.

Listen to the whole show

Washington Blame Game

Mark Halperin, political director for ABC News and editor of the political newsletter, The Note
- discusses Bush and Cheney's counter attacks over criticism over the war, Bob Woodward's testimony over the Plame case and the Patriot Act

» The Note (ABC News)

Keeping Up With The Joneses, or the Power of the Theater

Mike Leigh, filmmaker, playwright, and author of Abigail's Party, now running at The New Group Theater
- explains theater's curious power to tell us about ourselves

» Abigail's Party at The New Group
» Mike Leigh (IMDB)

Cost Benefit Analysis

Robert Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center
and
Katharine Hsiao, staff attorney at the National Senior Citizens Law Center a non-profit advocacy agency that promotes the independence and well-being of low-income elderly individuals and persons with disabilities
- on the medicare and prescription changes

» National Senior Citizens Law Center
» Medicare Rights Center

Food for Thought

Nikki Silva, radio producer and co-author,
and
Davia Nelson, radio producer and co-author, Hidden Kitchens : Stories, Recipes, and More from NPR's The Kitchen Sisters (Rodale Books, 2005)
- how communities come together through food

» The Kitchen Sisters