The Brian Lehrer Show

Elliot Spitzer

Convention-al Wisdom

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The state nominating conventions are getting underway. We speak to Republican gubernatorial candidate William Weld, get analysis of the conventions, including highlights from Eliot Spitzer’s speech to the Democrats. Also, a debate on the acceptibility of the "n" word; Middle East Studies professor Fawaz Gerges puts the battlefronts of Iraq and Afghanistan in context and talks about his new book, Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Militancy; and coverage of Secretary Rice's announcement about negotiating with Iran.

Listen to the whole show

Once and Future

William Weld, running for Republican gubernatorial nomination, former governor of Massachusetts
- on the campaign and the state convention

» Weld for New York

Buffalo Wing

Andrea Bernstein, WNYC Reporter
and
Errol Cockfield , Albany Bureau Chief for Newsday
- on the New York State Democratic Convention

Down with the "N" Word

Jill Merrit, co-founder of abolishthenword.com
- says the n-word is never a term of endearment, as claimed by the defense in the Nicholas Minucci trial

» abolishthenword.com

» an article covering prosecution testimony in the Minucci trial from the Daily News

Travels with Gerges

Fawaz Gerges Christian A. Johnson Professor in Middle East and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College and author of Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Militancy (Harcourt 2006)and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global (Cambridge University Press, 2005)