The Brian Lehrer Show

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Rice fields in the Philippines (dylwalters/flickr)

Rice Riots

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The price of food— especially rice —is soaring globally, while deadly food riots are breaking out in several countries. We take a look at what countries are affected—and why. Also: our next installment with our emergency preparedness guru takes a look at what to put in your “go bag.”

Nap Strategies Project - Wraps Up Today!
The benefits of sleep are widely touted, but how to catch up during the workday? Today's your last chance to take part in the latest Brian Lehrer Show crowd-sourcing project and send us your "nap strategy"!

Listen to the whole show

Rice Riots

Pedro Sanchez, director of tropical agriculture at The Earth Institute at Columbia University and co-chair of the Hunger Task Force for the Millenium Project, and Gawain Kripke, policy director at Oxfam, and Garry Pierre-Pierre, editor-publisher of the Haitian Times, talk about the global food shortage, what countries are affected--and why.

Are You Ready: Your Go Bag

John Solomon, who is writing a book about emergency preparedness, is our weekly guest for the month of April. Today, he discusses some of the nuts and bolts of how you can best respond to emergencies.

In addition to the essentials, John recommends packing one "comfort item" in your go bag - something that make things a little easier. Add a picture of your Go Bag's comfort item to the WNYC Flickr Pool!

Part one of "Are You Ready?"
John Solomon's Blog: Responding to “Brian Lehrer Show” Callers and Emailers

Teaching Tests

Can an individual teacher help an individual student? The teachers’ union head says there is no way to measure whether that's true, or not. Michael Mulgrew, a United Federation of Teachers vice president, argues teachers' impact on test scores can't be isolated and they should not figure in to tenure decisions.

What do you think? Comment below.

Masters of Influence

Blair Horner, legislative director for NYPIRG, talks about New York's top lobbyists.

Siesta Keys

We take a look at the results of our "Nap Strategies" listener project with Camille Anthony of the Napping Company.

Lessons Learned from Napsourcing

1)Familiarize yourself with your employee handbook. We noticed that ours mentions sleeping on the job might be cause for dismissal—thumb through yours, okay?

2)Don’t be a germophobe. Many listeners wrote in praising the virtues of what one commenter called “The Dreaded Toilet Nap.” Use the toilet paper as a pillow, lock the door, and benefit from the fact that all things bathroom-related constitute a “don’t ask, don’t tell” zone in the workplace.

3)Love Your Cube. If your back is to everyone else, try what one listener does: “I just put my hand lightly on the mouse and close my eyes…it has taken a few years of practice to prevent my head from falling over but I think I have mastered that part.” If you’re not quite there, one listener uses the “head-leaning-on-the-hand” technique. Several of you pull a George Costanza and sleep under your desk.

4)Use your commute— but carefully. Sleeping on the bus/subway/train is a time-honored tradition, but as one person warned “I once awoke on a bus with my shoelaces tied—you never know who’s around to take advantage.” And no, you shouldn’t sleep while driving, Rick from Middletown.

5)Know Your Surroundings. Work near a park? Welcome to the park bench nap. Any empty offices nearby? Libraries with cushiony chairs? Houses of worship with welcoming pews? Museums? Work your environment!

6)Don’t go too far. One listener, a stage manager, fell asleep on a catwalk—only to be awoken by a stage light shining in her face at the opening of act one. Another, who works in construction, shared a cautionary tale about a fellow who napped in a pipe chase—and was entombed in sheet rock. And another, a habitual car napper, has had to ask for a jump start several times after his seat heater drained his battery.