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The Brian Lehrer Show

Thursday, April 06, 2006
  • lilacs
    (flickr/simplerich)

    NY Climate Watchers

    Spring is here and scientists are watching the New York area for signs of climate change. Global warming is the thought to be the culprit for early lilac blooms and the disappearance of islands in Jamaica Bay, but the effects could soon be much more drastic than that. Also: Richard Wolffe with the Washington roundup, poverty hits a new low in NYC, and the New Yorker's George Packer on a counterinsurgency plan that's worked in Iraq.

The McCain Mutiny?

Richard Wolffe, senior White House correspondent for Newsweek
- explains the twister game that is today's immigration/guest workers debate

Welfare Rolls Drop

Mark Levitan, senior policy analyst at the Community Service Society of New York,
and
Sewell Chan, reporter for The New York Times,
- on the declining welfare rolls in New York City

» The Community Service Society of New York
» "Welfare Rolls Falling Again, Amid Worries About Poverty" by Sewell Chan in The New York Times

New York Climate Watchers

David W. Wolfe, professor of Plant Ecology at the Department of Horticulture, Cornell University
and
Doug Burns, Hydrologist at the US Geological Survey based in Troy, NY
- share signs of climate change in the New York area

» Climate and Farming, a resource page including data from David Wolfe
» The USGS's New York webpage

Tales From Tal Afar

George Packer, writer for the New Yorker and author, The Assassins' Gate : America in Iraq (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2005)
- on what American soldiers have learned about battling the insurgency in Iraq

Open Phones

your calls on Katie Couric and the evening news

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.