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(manyhighways/flickr)Between Assimilation and Autonomy
Given the cultural diversity of today’s schools, are students better off when educators focus on honoring differences or fostering a common identity? One of the editors of Just Schools: Pursuing Equality in Societies of Difference and a New York City principal offer their views. Plus: this morning's crane collapse; more on the recent shootings around the city; the story behind Scott McClellan's controversial new book; what it means to be human; and when is a road trip a pilgrimage?
Save Our Kids
The six teenagers that were shot in Marcus Garvey Park over the weekend were only the latest victims of an uptick in violent crime that has arrived with the warmer weather. We discuss the situation with Eric Adams, NY State Senator (20th district), and Jackie Rowe Adams, co-founder of Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. (Stop Another Violent End).
Eye of the Storm
The biggest story about former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception might be the book itself -- or, rather, the tempest of controversy it's created in the media and the White House. Peter Osnos. the founder and editor-at-large of McClellan's publisher Perseus Books, tells us about how the book was leaked to the press and how the firestorm took shape.
Balancing Assimilation and Autonomy
Is it the job of public schools to foster one common identity or to accommodate distinct group identities? Martha Minow, professor of law at the graduate school of
education at Harvard and the co-editor of Just Schools: Pursuing Equality in Societies of Difference (Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 2008), and Gillian Smith, principal of the Facing History School in New York City, discuss which approach better serves the students and society at large.
Event
There is an upcoming conference celebrating the publication of Just Schools with educators and contributors to the book.
Location: New York University's Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Sq. South, E&L Auditorium, 4th Floor.
Time: June 2, Registration begins at 10:30am; introductions begin at 11:00am. Lunch will be provided and the day ends at 4:30pm.
Crane Collapse: Update
WNYC reporter Matthew Schuerman brings us the latest on the Upper East Side crane collapse.
Oh, The Humanity
What does it mean to be human? Does it describe our biology, our conscious intelligence, our ethics or our morality? Or is it something else entirely? This Saturday, as part of the inaugural World Science Festival in New York, a distinguished panel of scientists and scholars will debate the issue. Nobel Prize-winning biologist Paul Nurse and neuroethicist Patricia Churchland are participating in a sold-out event as part of the festival; they offer their views.
What do you think it means to be human? Comment below!
Goin' On Pilgrimages
In The Road Trip Pilgrim's Guide: Witchdoctors, Magic Tokens, Camping on Golf Courses, and Everything Else
You Need to Know to Go on a Pilgrimage (Mountaineers Books, 2007), Dan Austin tells how to make your next trip a transformational experience.
Have you been on a pilgrimage? Comment below!
Event
Dan Austin will be reading tonight at 7:00 p.m. at East West Books, 78 Fifth Ave. at 14th St.
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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.- Comments [40]
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!- Comments [15]
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!- Comments [172]
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.
- Comments [22]
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.
- Comments [44]
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