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The Brian Lehrer Show Archive


February 2007

Drawing the Line

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

How much income should be too much to qualify for government-subsidized health insurance? In New Jersey, a family with two children can qualify if they make up to $70,000 a year. President Bush says that's way too much. On our next program, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D) will make New Jersey's case. Also, the history of flight attendants, voting rights on trial in Port Chester, New York, and a look at black women and mental health.


When to Say No

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The New York City Council votes this week on a measure to symbolically ban the "N-word." Councilman Leroy Comrie of Queens is sponsoring the measure, which he says is aimed mostly at African-Americans who demean themselves by using it. We'll ask: is a symbolic ban a good idea? Also: how the Rumsfeld legacy lives on at the Pentagon; and coping with life in New York's small apartments.


The Talking Candidate

Monday, February 26, 2007

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards has a more specific plan for universal health care than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama--and a plan for getting out of Iraq. He’ll take your phone calls on our next program. Also: Monday Morning Politics with The New Republic’s Michelle Cottle, and your Oscars post-mortem.


Original Spin

Friday, February 23, 2007

Red or blue -- do the differences between Democrats and Republicans run deeper than their stands on the issues? Guest host Dean Meminger follows up with New York Times reporter Patricia Cohen on the research into the underlying personality traits that may determine partisanship. Also, does a rose smell as sweet after traveling thousands of miles to your local bodega?


Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Your average teen uses the internet to research school papers or update her myspace page. But a growing number are visiting “pro-ana” pages—websites that promote anorexia as a lifestyle choice, not a disease. What does the proliferation of these sites mean, and what can parents and schools do? Also: a summit convenes to combat the high school dropout crisis, and out-of-state telecommuters rise up against New York State’s commuter tax.


Ernest Negotiations

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

The police have one; teachers have one; firefighters, too, but in New York City, public school principals have been working without a contract for three years. On our next program, the new head of the principals union, Ernest Logan, on why principals and the City may finally come to terms. Then, the religious experiences of black women.


Gay in the NBA

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

John Amaechi has just become the first former pro basketball player to announce publicly that he's gay. You've been hearing the backlash in the news. Now hear him explain why he waited until he retired to write Man in the Middle. Also, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and facing America's history of lynching.


Taking the Long View

Monday, February 19, 2007

For President’s Day, we talk Monday Morning Politics with historians Douglas Brinkley and Julian Zelizer. They’ll put President Bush's Iraq war policy in historical context, and look at way the 2008 presidential race is getting off to an early start. Also: all ten candidates running for Yvette Clark’s former city council seat in Brooklyn.


Be Careful What You Praise For

Friday, February 16, 2007

The latest research says most parents underrate effort and overpraise intelligence. Are you guilty? Also: the proposed ban on iPods, and are schools like Harvard worth the tuition?


The Yellow Brick Road to the White House

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas hopes to be the conservatives’ conservative in his run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. We’ll ask about his positions on issues like abortion and gay marriage, as well as his opposition to the troop surge in Iraq. Plus, the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer and Jill Savitt of Human Rights First on the connection between the “pretend” torture on 24 and the use of real torture in Iraq; and an insiders' guide to New York.


Lake Effect

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Anthony Lake served as national security advisor to President Clinton. He'll discuss the role of the national security advisor in the post 9/11 era, and the latest news from Iran, Iraq and North Korea—-as well as his role as advisor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Also: anthropologist Helen Fisher on the chemistry of romantic love, and the editor of the New York Times “Modern Love” column.


Hear It Live!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Live concerts can leave a lasting impression both for the music and for their context in our lives. Editor Sean Manning and several contributors to the book The Show I'll Never Forget: 50 Writers Relive Their Most Memorable Concertgoing Experience, tell us about the ones that still resonate for them. Plus, news from Capitol Hill and Iraq.


Life of the Party

Monday, February 12, 2007

As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe shaped the party’s political agenda while shattering fundraising records. We’ll speak with him about his life in politics, his recent memoir What a Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators and Other Wild Animals—and about his stewardship of Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. Also: Roger Tilton, the New Hampshire resident who demanded that Senator Clinton recant her vote authorizing force in Iraq; the Washington Post columnist Marie Cocco; and creative process guru Julia Cameron on the art of perseverance.


Goodbye and Good Luck

Friday, February 09, 2007

Getting fired by Woody Allen turned out to be a creative boost for actress Annabelle Gurwitch. She wrote a book and created a documentary from her interviews with people who’ve been fired, from fellow actors to laid-off GM workers. Plus, New Yorker staff writer Jeffrey Goldberg rounds up the week’s news; and an update on global climate change.


A Love Supreme

Thursday, February 08, 2007

We know about the opinions of Supreme Court justices from Marshall to Scalia, but do we know enough about their personalities? Legal eagle Jeffrey Rosen explains why High Court personalities matter to the law. Also, Socrates and the search for romance and the latest from the Libby trial.


On the Outside

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali got political asylum in The Netherlands fleeing a forced marriage and became a leading politician and filmmaker, plus an outspoken critic of injustice in the name of Islam. We’ll speak with Ayaan Hirsi Ali about her new memoir and her religious and political journey. Also, being gay in the Dominican Republic.


Boys to Men

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

On our next program, three takes on the American male, black and white. First, New York Times correspondent Charlie LeDuff goes on a roadtrip in search of the angry and forgotten white men he grew up with in Middle America – his new book is called US Guys. Then journalists Natalie Hopkinson and Natalie Moore look at black masculinity in the hip hop generation. Their new book is called Deconstructing Tyrone.


(Not) Money for Nothing

Monday, February 05, 2007

Eliot Spitzer’s education proposal means more money for schools—and more accountability. What do the reforms mean for educators and kids? We’ll hear from the governor’s new deputy secretary for education, Manuel Rivera, among others. Also, Monday Morning Politics with Republican pollster and language maven Frank Luntz, and a Buddhist approach to understanding the brain.


Winds of Change

Friday, February 02, 2007

A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it’s “very likely” that humans are responsible for global warming. We’ll take a look at what they know, and what they don’t know, about the changing atmosphere and its implications. All facts, no rhetoric. Also: the odds of war with Iran before the Bush administration leaves office, co-existing with difficult people in the workplace, and the future of Starrett City.


Black and White

Thursday, February 01, 2007

As we look at the politics and psychology of “passing,” we’ll hear from a mixed-race writer who identified as white at school and black at home while growing up and about one woman who thought she was all white until a family secret was revealed. Also, listeners react to Gov. Spitzer’s budget proposals, and Senator Biden's remarks regarding Barack Obama.