The Brian Lehrer Show Archive
December 2006
News Quiz!
Friday, December 29, 2006
Were you paying attention in 2006? See how much you retained with our annual end-of-the-year news quiz. Outgoing New York Times editorial page editor Gail Collins joins Brian as guest quiz-master. Plus, a preview of the Spitzer inauguration with WAMC’s Alan Chartock.
Lost in Translation
Thursday, December 28, 2006
China is making it harder for foreigners to adopt Chinese children. We’ll look at why now, after China has been a ready source for so many infertile New Yorkers, and what’s best for the kids. Also: Vanity Fair columnist Christopher Hitchens on why he thinks women aren’t as funny as men, a look at Foreign Policy magazine’s Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006, and listener predictions for 2007.
Back to the Drawing Board
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
A group of education and business leaders wants to reinvent American education…again! We’ll look at what the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce has concluded, and hear the reaction of United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten. Also: Neil Chethik, author of VoiceMale: What Husbands Really Think About Their Marriages, Their Wives, Sex, Housework, and Commitment, and a conversation with Paul Berman, the reluctant hawk, plus working while sick.
Snap The Season photo project
(Your Candidate Here) in 2008!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
No, it’s not too early for a call-in for Democrats on who you want for President in 2008. Is Obama a serious challenger to Clinton? Should Gore come in from the sidelines? And are you glad Dennis Kucinich is back? Also: a report from Aceh, two years after the tsunami.
Snap The Season photo project
TBD
Monday, December 25, 2006
For our Christmas Day program, highlights from the old CBS series--and current NPR series--"This I Believe." We'll hear excerpts from the statements of belief by Leonard Bernstein, Jackie Robinson, and Penn Gillette. Also: biking in New York.
The Death of Dying
Friday, December 22, 2006
We’re living longer than we used to, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Atlantic Monthly writer Charles Mann says our coming death shortage will cause problems we’ve never imagined. Plus: New York City Housing and Preservation commissioner Shaun Donovan and a history of girls in college.
Snap the Season! -- Send your photos to the latest BL Show Photo Project
In Praise of Darkness
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Bright lights constantly illuminate the city that never sleeps. "Dark Sky advocate" Susan Harder explains the benefits of cutting the city's light pollution. Also learn how to beat that New York City parking ticket.
Snap the Season! -- Send your photos to the latest BL Show Flickr Project
The Police Perspective
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Defenders of the police officers involved in the Sean Bell shooting say people should hold off judgment until the investigation is complete. Hear the cops perspective with the head of the Detectives Endowment Association, Michael Palladino. Plus: Where to park in New York without getting a ticket, and women's rights eleven years after Beijing, 1995.
Snap the Season! -- Send your photos to the latest BL Show Flickr Project
Underground Art
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Have you noticed the art museum underground? Works by world famous artists in the subways, there for you to enjoy while you commute? We’ll speak with four contributors to a new subway art collection, and ask what’s your favorite. Also, with twelve days to go until he leaves office, we take a look at Governor Pataki’s legacy.
Snap the Season! -- Send your photos to the latest BL Show Flickr Project
The Undo List
Monday, December 18, 2006
Twelve years of Republican rule in Congress are now officially over and the Democrats are vowing to change direction. How much of the Republican legacy do they want to undo? It’s not just Iraq and the minimum wage. Also: Why black women get less breast cancer than white women.
Snap the Season! -- Send your photos to the latest BL Show Flickr Project
Across the Universe
Friday, December 15, 2006
What kind of health insurance reform do people really want? Governor-elect Spitzer has promised universal coverage for New York State, but what kind? We will dig deep into the poll numbers to see how people really feel about single payer, individual mandates and other ways to get there. Also, can realism and ethics coexist in U.S. foreign policy?
Snap the Season! -- Send your photos to the latest BL Show Flickr Project
Iraq's Refugees
Thursday, December 14, 2006
One growing problem from the implosion of Iraq: refugees. Iraqis are fleeing by the hundreds of thousands, but hardly any are found in the United States. On our next program, we examine the problem and the case for bringing Iraqi refugees here. Also, one of the brand new local members of Congress, Joe Courtney of Connecticut, now on the Armed Services Committee.
Working Underground
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Economic statistics don’t count the transactions that take place on the street. Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh spent ten years looking at the wheeling and dealing of a ghetto in Chicago's South Side. He talks about his findings and his new book, Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor. Also: the evidence so far in the Queens police shooting.
Old Times There Are Not Forgotten
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Was New York the northernmost city of the Confederacy? On our next program, we’ll check out the new exhibit at the New York Historical Society that argues New York was practically a Southern city during, and after, the Civil War. Also, what the Iraq Study Group report calls for with the Arab/Israeli conflict.
Taking the Hill
Monday, December 11, 2006
From the battlefield to the halls of power, we will meet a brand new member of Congress who is an Iraq war veteran and hear clips from a new documentary about the coalition of Iraq vet candidates known as “Band of Brothers 2006.” Plus, gender confusion in children and Monday Morning Politics
The Beauty of Medicine
Friday, December 08, 2006
You don’t have to be a plastic surgeon to give Botox injections. Now other physicians are getting into cosmetic medicine thanks to the higher salaries and lower malpractice rates. Find out how the beauty business is drawing so-called “non-core” doctors and why the “core” ones aren’t happy about it with guest host Errol Louis. Plus: why an NBA star is giving away free shoes and more on the Sean Bell shooting.
Study Up
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Two members of the Iraq Study Group, Leon Panetta and Sandra Day O’Connor, discuss their recommendations for U.S. Middle East policy and the possibility of consensus. Plus: reaction to the ISG report from a leader of the new Democratic Congress, Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking member of the House International Relations Committee; and an “exit interview” with Charles Gargano, Governor Pataki’s development czar.
Studying Iraq
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
The Iraq Study Group releases its long-awaited report today on how to end the war in Iraq. We broadcast the event live and look at what the U.S. should do next with guests including Juan Cole and Robert Kagan.
Iraq Study Group Report
Procedures and Protocol
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Our coverage of the Queens police shooting continues with interviews with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly about police training and tactics and with Queens State Senator Malcolm Smith who is also the incoming New York State Senate Minority Leader replacing David Paterson. Plus excerpts of the Robert Gates confirmation hearings (airing in full on AM820) and a proposal for tolls to drive in Midtown.
Eye on Iraq
Monday, December 04, 2006
This is an important week for US policy on Iraq with the Iraq Study Group issuing its official report as well as Senate hearings for the new defense secretary. We talk about both in Monday Morning Politics. Plus: why the prison population is reaching an all-time high and a conversation with playwright Julia Cho about her new take on the family roadtrip, Durango.
Happy Birthday, Hannah Arendt
Friday, December 01, 2006
This year is the centennial of the birth of Hannah Arendt, the political theorist and chronicler of 20th Century totalitarianism. On our next program, the relevance of Hannah Arendt today with human rights activist Samantha Power and Iraqi exile Kanan Makiya. Also: a new report wants to make it harder to sue Wall Street companies; and two advisors to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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