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The Brian Lehrer Show

Thursday, October 04, 2007
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    Showdown in Nassau County

    Nassau County officials say immigration agents endangered residents and police during raids last week. According to the charges, the federal agents were wearing cowboy hats and brandishing shotguns, when they were supposed to be investigating gang activity. Also, two movie critics compare notes on the New York Film Festival; Ayaan Hirsi Ali's security; and a call-in about the proposed redesign of the Marriage Bureau to rival Las Vegas.

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Taxi Strike Part 2

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, explains why taxi drivers are planning to strike again over the use of GPS devices in cabs.

Showdown in Nassau County

Peter Schmitt, minority leader of the Nassau County Legislature (R-Massapequa), responds to claims that immigration officials used improper tactics in raids that were supposed to be targeting gangs.

Film Studies

Film critics Dana Stevens of Slate and Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman join us for the month of October to talk about films. This week: the long & short of the New York Film Festival.

Dutch Treat

Abigail Esman, a writer based in NY and Amsterdam who has written for Salon.com and other publications on the clash between the West and Muslims in The Netherlands, discusses the latest wrinkle in the Ayaan Hirsi Ali story.

Abigail Esman's website

Three's a Crowd

A group of conservatives, many of them Christians, have stated that they would consider launching a third-party candidate if both the Republicans and Democrats nominate a pro-choice candidate. Charles W. Dunn, dean of Regent University's Robertson School of Government and the editor of The Future of Conservatism: Conflict and Consensus in the Post-Reagan Era (ISI Books, 2007) and author of The Seven Laws of Presidential Leadership (Prentice Hall, 2006) analyzes what a third party run would do to the Republican party.

Destination: Marriage Bureau

Las Vegas has Elvis, who should marry couples in New York? Mayor Bloomberg wants to redecorate the Manhattan Marriage Bureau to rival Las Vegas as a hip placed to get hitched. Listeners call in with design suggestions.

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.