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The Brian Lehrer Show

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
  • (<a href="http://flickr.com/photos/danagraves/117680556/" target="_blank">danagraves</a>/flickr)
    (danagraves/flickr)

    Apartment Buildings and the Cable Monopoly

    The federal government may strike down thousands of contracts between buildings and their sole cable providers to increase competition and decrease price. How will this affect NYC apartment dwellers? Also, Michael Balboni advocates for Spitzer's driver's license proposal; changes to the gifted and talented program in the city's public schools; Bliss Broyard on learning the family secret that transformed her from WASP to “woman of color;” and residency requirements for city employees.

    Enter our Halloween photo contest -- Scary Smart.

    Help us dig into the Clinton and Giuliani finance filings in our crowdsourcing project, Hillary, Rudy, Money

Three Tiers of ID

Michael Balboni, Deputy Secretary for Public Safety for the State of New York, discusses the three types of identification in the current Spitzer proposal: one for driver's licenses, one for illegal immigrants, and a final, more enhanced ID for international border crossings.

Changes to the Gifted and Talented Program

Elizabeth Green, reporter for the New York Sun, and Robin Aronow, founder of School Search NYC discuss changes to the gifted and talented program by the Department of Education.

Lowering Your Cable Bill?

Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at the Media Access Project, joins us to discuss the recent FCC decision to end exclusive deals between landlords and cable companies.

Passing Secrets

Bliss Broyard, author of One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life--A Story of Race and Family Secrets (Little, Brown and Company, 2007) learned her father, New York Times Book Review editor Anatole Broyard, was black--just before his death in 1990.

One Drop is available for purchase at Amazon.com

City Workers, City Residents?

City council member Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-32) chairs the Civil Service & Labor Committee; he supports keeping the NYC residency requirement that applies to some members of DC 37, the municipal workers' union. Wanda Williams, DC 37's Director of Political Advocacy, favors lifting the requirement.

Councilman Addabbo's webpage

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.