The Brian Lehrer Show

Legacy Admissions

Thursday, April 12, 2007

With tax day fast approaching, tax policy is up for debate in the new Democratic Congress. We'll talk to former Reagan budget official Bruce Bartlett about the legacy of trickle-down economics; and foreign policy crtic Chalmers Johnson on the legacy of trickle-down economics. Also, we cover the 2nd Ave. subway, Snoop Dogg ponders Imus, and dance theater dealing with the lasting effects of lynching.

Listen to the whole show

News Radar

Brian talks about the stories that have struck him today, and in remembrance replays a clip of Kurt Vonnegut from 2003.

Cost Benefit Analysis

Bruce Bartlett, an official under President's Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and author, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006), says conservatives today are not following true supply-side economics.

Impostor is available for purchase at Amazon.com

2nd Avenue Subway - Take 4

State and City officials break ground on the 2nd Avenue subway line for the fourth time in 50 years. Will it get finished this time around? Find out with Tom Wright, executive vice president for the Regional Plan Association and Jen Chung, who edits the city weblog, Gothamist.

The Cost of Empire

As the 2008 election approaches, we’ll be asking “Is there an American Empire?” Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute, professor emeritus at the University of San Diego and the author of Blowback joins us for the first of several conversations on the topic and to discuss his latest book, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (Metropolitan Books, 2007).

Nemesis is available for purchase at Amazon.com

Imus in (Snoop's) Doghouse

If Snoop Dogg does it, why can't Imus? And did MSNBC bow to pressure from advertisers and not the public? Danyel Smith, editor-in-chief of Vibe and Vibe Vixen, and Jill Flowers, co-founder of Abolish the "N" Word, weigh in.

B.O.B.: Manhattan

Nia Love, choreographer and founder of Blacksmith's Daughter Dance Theater, represents Manhattan in P.S.122's Best of the Boroughs (B.O.B.) Festival with "Let the Eagles Scream," an exploration of lynching and its legacy.

This week's other B.O.B. representatives on The Brian Lehrer Show:
Monday - Sara Valentine
Tuesday - Okwui Okpokwasili
Wednesday - Edith I. Freni
Friday - Kwikstep