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The Brian Lehrer Show

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
  • Rudolph Giuliani with George Bush
    Rudolph Giuliani with George Bush (Conus Archive)

    America's Mayor

    Village Voice writer Wayne Barrett wrote a scathing biography of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani a few months before the 9/11 attacks. Giuliani became a hero after the attacks and has maintained that image ever since. But Barrett has just co-written a new book that questions his handling of the situation. In Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani, Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins argue that Giuliani's leadership may have exacerbated the crisis. Plus, the Fringe Festival turns 10.

Tuesday Morning Politics

Jim Rutenberg, White House correspondent for The New York Times
-on the President's press conference on Monday and the Lamont/Lieberman race in Connecticut

Bloomberg in Balley Mote

Pierce O Reilly, reporter for RTE Radio
-on Bloomberg's trip to Ireland

Fringe on Top

Elena K. Holy, producing artistic director, New York International Fringe Festival
- talks about 10 years of the Fringe Festival
and
Juliette Avila, founder of Find Your Light, a playwriting/acting outreach program for teens living through New York City's shelter system and the director of "Understand to be Understood" in the Fringe Festival
and
Mariam Ajose, co-creator and actress in "Understand to be Understood"
and
Brian Parks, former Village Voice theater editor and playwright of "Americana Absurdum" which premiered at the first New York International Fringe Festival and is back for the 10th anniversary,

» Fringe NYC website
» more about Find Your Light and Understand to be Understood
» more about Americana Absurdum

America's Mayor

Dan Collins, senior producer at CBSNews.com and and co-author, Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 (HarperCollins 2006)
and
Wayne Barrett, senior editor at the Village Voice, 2006 Jack Newfield Visiting Professor at the Hunter College graduate journalism program and author, Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 (HarperCollins 2006)and Rudy: An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani (Basic Books, 2000)
- on Rudy Giuliani' handling of September 11th and whether or not he should run for President in 2008

The Future of Plastics

Barbara Kancelbaum, works in public relations as a freelancer and is a Park Slope mom
- on her work to stop her neighbors from buying bottled water
and
Laura Haight, senior environmental associate at NYPIRG, New York Public Interest Research Group
- on the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill passed by the New York State Assembly and why it is stalled in the New York State Senate

» NYPIRG's Environmental Efforts

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.