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The Brian Lehrer Show

Monday, May 28, 2007
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    Memorial in Sound

    For Memorial Day, Dave Isay brings a personal tribute to one American soldier killed in Iraq from his two sisters recorded at the StoryCorps booth. Also: historian Ken Davis on the Civil War origins of the holiday; a proposal for a United States Department of Peace; class conflict in African American neighborhoods; "no-impact" exercise; and astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

    Watch Brian's Online Video Picks.

Memorial in Sound

Dave Isay, public radio producer and founder of the StoryCorps oral history project, returns with a StoryCorps interview for Memorial Day.

A State of Abstinence

Ken Davis, author of the Don't Know Much About series, explains the meaning and history of Memorial Day.

Life, the Universe and Everything

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, director of the Hayden Planetarium, host of NOVA scienceNOW and author Death By Black Hole And Other Cosmic Quandaries (W.W. Norton, 2006), talks about the space elevators and the universe.

Death By Black Hole And Other Cosmic Quandaries is available for purchase at Amazon.com

Gentrification and the Black Middle Class

Mary Pattillo, professor of sociology and African-American studies at Northwestern University and author of Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City (Chicago University Press, 2007) discusses the way class differences play out within African American urban neighborhoods.

Black on the Block is available for purchase at Amazon.com

No-Impact Exercise

Colin Beavan, Brooklyn-based writer who runs a blog about his experience living a "no impact" life talks about commuting by foot.

The Department of Peace

Marianne Perez, new york media director for the Peace Alliance, discusses her organization's campaign to establish a Department of Peace.

New Yorkers for a Dept. of Peace

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.

Cast your vote for our video contest semi-finalists.

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.