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The Brian Lehrer Show / June 19, 2008

The Brian Lehrer Show

Thursday, June 19, 2008
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  • Most common type of housing (based on the total number of housing units in each category) for census tracts in New York City
    Most common type of housing (based on the total number of housing units in each category) for census tracts in New York City

    Maps and Territories

    We continue our weekly series about the new Census Atlas of the with a look at a few maps specific to New York. What can we learn from the distribution of housing units? Plus: David Mark and Michael Fauntroy on the newest political developments; Miquela Craytor on the mayor's proposed revitalization program for the South Bronx; Adam Green of MoveOn.org and Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit on the evolving role of the Internet in presidential campaigns; and members of the Young at Heart Chorus.

    Summer Streets Map Project!
    On Tuesday we discussed the DOT's plan to close six miles of Manhattan streets on three Saturdays in August. We also asked you to suggest other streets that could be closed to cars on the weekend. We've put together a map from your initial suggestions, but we want more. Add your suggestions to this comments thread and we'll add them to our map!

Political Wrap-Up: Obama's Opt Out, McCain's Energy Policy

Obama recently announced he will opt out of federal campaign financing. In other political news, John McCain is calling to lift the ban on offshore drilling and is advocating for the construction of 45 nuclear reactors by 2020. Politico senior editor David Mark and analyst Michael Fauntroy bring us up to speed on the facts.

The "Highway to Nowhere"

This week, Mayor Bloomberg announced a revitalization program for the Bronx. Deemed the "South Bronx Initiative," the plan does not include the area around the Sheridan Expressway. Miquela Craytor, deputy director of Sustainble South Bronx, talks about the disconnect between city planning and community activism.

Seeing The Numbers: NYC

We continue our series with Marc Perry, Chief of the Population Distribution Branch at the U.S. Census, on the new Census Atlas of the United States. This week, we look at some of the NYC-specific maps:

Slideshow: NYC Maps

Also, Andrew Beveridge, Professor of Sociology for Social Explorer and chair of the Sociology department at Queens College, helps us flesh out what those maps tell us about New York.

Brian with the new Census Atlas

Download PDFs of the Census Atlas Here for Free!
Explore More NYC Maps at Social Explorer
Last Week's Episode of Seeing The Numbers
See a picture of Brian with the Atlas

Online Campaigning

Glenn Reynolds , the man behind instapundit, and Adam Green, of MoveOn.org, discuss the role of online organizing in this year’s election.

Event: Today's guests are participating in next week's Personal Democracy Forum. Brian will be there too!

Alive and Kicking

Members of the Young at Heart Chorus range in age from 72 to 88 and are known for their performances of rock songs. Director Bob Cilman and chorus member Jean Florio talk about their upcoming concert at the Beacon Theater and confounding society’s expectations for the elderly.

See The Young at Heart Chorus Sing Coldplay (Youtube)

A person dressed as a bear to represent a bear market performs outside the New York Stock Exchange on October 6, 200 in New York. Wall Street tumbled after the opening bell as fallout from the credit crisis triggered concerns about the economy and the Dow fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years.

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.

Ray Young, General Motors Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

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.

paper trail small

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!

(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexerde/80417539/">alexerde</a>/flickr)

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!

happiness

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.

Judge Sotomayor

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.