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The Brian Lehrer Show

Thursday, January 18, 2007
  • (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soulfish/360144798/" target="_blank">soulfish</a>/flickr)
    (soulfish/flickr)

    Cities and Nations

    Author and satirist P.J. O’Rourke takes a fresh look at a book that changed the world—Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations.” Also, your reactions to Mayor Bloomberg’s State of the City address, and former Israeli government spokesman Zev Chafets on the relationship between Jews and evangelicals.

City State

Christine Quinn, speaker of the City Council, represents District 3 (West Side of Manhattan)
- reacts to the State of the City address

State of the City

Robert Jackson, City Council Member represent District 7 (West Harlem; parts of Washington Heights, Inwood, Central Harlem and Morningside Heights) and Chair of the Education Committee
then
Andrea Batista Schlesinger, executive director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy
and
Robert George, New York Post editorial writer and columnist and blogger at Ragged Thoughts
- discuss Mayor Bloomberg's State of the City Address

Listen to the whole speech

Invisible Handshake

P. J. O'Rourke, journalist, political satirist and author, Books that Changed the World: On The Wealth of Nations (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007)
- explains why Adam Smith's book is one that changed the world

On The Wealth of Nations is available for purchase at Amazon.com

Evangelical Zionists

Zev Chafets, journalist, former Israeli official and author, A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man's Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Christian Alliance (Harper Collins, 2007)
- on the alliance between Evangelical Christians and American Jews

Reading tonight:
6:45-8:30 p.m. New York University, Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, 7 E. 10th St., Between 5th and University Avenues

A Match Made in Heaven is available for purchase at Amazon.com

Open Phones

Listeners call in with their reactions to a testy exchange between Senator Barbara Boxer and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice at a recent hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

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.