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The Brian Lehrer Show / October 09, 2008

The Brian Lehrer Show

Thursday, October 09, 2008
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  • wires web infrastructure

    Underneath It All

    30 Issues in Thirty Days continues with a look at what the candidates say about technology and infrastructure, plus what do tomorrow's cities need? Also, fact-checking the debates and checking in on statewide races where the Democrats are hoping to take control of the New York State Senate.

    This Friday's Wiki-produced 30 Issues in 30 Days segment is on Oil and Alternative Energy.
    Help produce it here!

Money for Something

Diane Brady, senior editor at Business Week, looks at the provision in the bailout plan that allows the Treasury to inject cash directly into banks in exchange for ownership stake. And, today marks the return of short-selling. What will be the immediate effect on the stock market?

Albany

Battle for Senate Control

New York State capitol reporter Rick Karlin and political writer Irene Liu, both at the Albany Times Union, look at the chances of the New York State Senate changing hands in the November elections.

Fact Check

Politifact's Bill Adair, the weekly guest until Election Day, brings his Truth-O-Meter to fact-check some recent campaign claims.

Gimme The Truth (The Politifact Rock Song)

30 Issues in 30 Days: Why Infrastructure Matters

David Mongan, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, talks about why infrastructure matters and how we got to where we are in the United States in terms of our infrastructure.

Then
What will the next president do to deal with crumbling infrastructure? Douglas Holz-Eakin, senior policy adviser to Senator John McCain, and Stephen Flynn, senior fellow in national security studies for the Council on Foreign Relations and unpaid adviser to Senator Barack Obama, discus their candidates' plans.

Then
Andrew Rasiej, founder of Personal Democracy Forum, talks about the possibility of free public wi-fi.

Then
Bob Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, talks about how America measures up to other countries in terms of infrastructure and what it needs to do to be on the cutting edge in the future. Also in the conversation, Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum London and editor of The Endless City.

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.