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The Brian Lehrer Show

Friday, April 11, 2008
  • immigration

    Celebrating Immigrants

    Next week, New York celebrates its 5th annual Immigrant Heritage Week. Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Guillermo Linares talks about the services New York offers immigrants and the issues they face. Plus, a single dad writes struggles to maintain family life and a love life; and will trade dispute over wire hangers mean more expensive dry cleaning?

    Add a picture of your Go Bag's comfort item to the WNYC Flickr Pool!

McCain in NYC

Andrea Bernstein, WNYC's political director, and Brooklyn Paper reporter Ben Muessig talk about John McCain's visit to NYC.

Where the Foreclosures Are

Dwayne Jones, director of lending at the Parodneck Foundation, a nonprofit that does foreclosure default and intervention counseling, and Eileen Markey, freelance journalist, talk about the neighborhoods that are hit the hardest by the subprime mortage crisis.

FUF: Dead Bloggers, the Olympics, Jaywalkers...

We follow up on a few burning questions that came up this week. Timothy Noah, senior writer at Slate, looks into the dying bloggers.. We take a look at just what the precedent is for US Presidents at the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. A primer on jaywalking from Peter Norton, assistant professor in Science and Technology at the University of Virginia and author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. And we finally put our nap strategies segment to bed by offering our napping tips.

Going it Alone

Writer Trey Ellis, assistant professor of film at Columbia University's School of the Arts and author of Bedtime Stories: Adventures in the Land of Single Fatherhood, talks about navigating the dating scene while trying to raise his kids.

Taken to the Cleaners

Ian Murphy, editor of American Drycleaner, a Crain's publication, gets to the bottom of the price hike in wire hangers. Bob Kantor, C.E.O. of EcoHangers, based in Long Island City, says his product now makes more sense economically and ecologically.

Wire hangers may become scarcer as prices rise, but 3.5 billion still end up in landfills every year. Rabbit-ear antennae may be on the way out, but what other use for them have you found (Mommie Dearest aside)? Tell us below.

Immigrant Heritage Week

Immigrant Heritage Week kicks off this weekend. Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Guillermo Linares previews the events, and also discusses the services New York offers immigrants and the issues they face.

Immigrant Heritage Week Calendar of Events

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.