The Brian Lehrer Show

Vitamin Statistics

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Vitamins are always good for you, right? Well, the recent women’s heart study findings indicate vitamin supplements are irrelevant to cardiac care, while other studies find too much of certain vitamins can pose a health risk. Hear two views on whether it’s worth buying vitamin pills. Also, the belief that many black children think studying is “acting white” – truth or urban legend?

Listen to the whole show

Waiting

As the grand jury deliberates on whether to charge or clear the five police officers involved in the Sean Bell shooting, Errol Louis, columnist at the New York Daily News, reviews the case and talks about what to expect.

Overseeing Police Oversight

Bob Hennelly, WNYC Reporter, talks about police oversight and explains what happened on Friday at a City Hall panel on the efficacy of the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Bat Ban?

Councilman James Oddo (R-Staten Island) talks about the legislation he's sponsoring that would ban metal bats in high school baseball games; Jim Darby, vice president of promotion at Easton Sports, says there's no reason to ban them.

See--and hear--the acoustical difference that a baseball makes on aluminum vs. wood bats here.

Vitamin Statistics

John Swartzberg, M.D. and professor of public health at University of California Berkeley, chair of the editorial board for the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, and Balz Frei, director of The Linus Pauling Institute and professor in the department of biochemistry and biophysics at Oregon State University. debate the benefits of vitamin supplements.

Open Phones

Listeners call in about whether African-Americans who study hard in school are said by their peers to be “acting white” or whether that’s an urban myth.