NPR: BPP Show #23.1

BPP Show #23.1

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We're breaking the show into two separate one-hour posts, so you can download either or both. In hour one we'll cover President Bush's speech and talk to Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil in the studio. Ali just got back from Iraq two weeks ago, and he'll share his experiences and some amazing stories about conditions at Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital, which he covered for several months.

We'll learn more about a test for a very rare gene in women that puts them at much higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. An ethical discussion surrounding the test has arisen because the test is so expensive (over $3,000) and the gene is so rare, but the test is being marketed on a mass scale to women who, almost entirely, aren't at risk. We'll talk to medical ethicist Dr. Arthur Caplan and Connie Elliot from Salt Lake City, who had a double mastectomy and hysterectomy after finding out she does in fact have the gene*.

After that we'll talk to C. Joel Marino, who's written a brutally honest column about coming to terms with his own sexuality in the wake of the Larry Craig scandal.

We'll also learn more about federal prisons' efforts to remove religious books from their stacks. Plus we'll have The Ramble, and NPR's own Mike Pesca on commonly misquoted "classic" movie lines. Hour Two is on the way!

*- Myriad Genetics released the following statement to the BPP regarding our story on their genetic testing:

Myriad Genetics has initiated the BRACAnalysis Awareness Campaign to improve awareness of the potentially life-saving information provided by its genetic test, among the 2-3 million American women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Women at risk are not widely aware that they can take measures to significantly reduce their likelihood of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer. We encourage women with a strong family history, through use of a positive, responsible message, to become empowered by visiting their healthcare provider to determine whether they are appropriate candidates for testing.

Dan Pashman

3:39 PM ET | 09-14-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I liked the segment with Ali Fadhil. It is great to get an Iraqi's perspective of life in the country and not from a foreign journalist.

The story about religious texts in prisons is very interesting. One would think that in many cases that religion would help a prisoner "convert" into a well adjusted and contributing member of society, but there is growing concern about radicalization in jail is growing.

Mike Pesca is funny.

Sent by Steve Petersen | 6:47 PM ET | 09-14-2007

very good show. any truth about iraq that gets air time is totally necessary and the genetic testing story is very important to put out there...and last but not least...the classic movie/literary/historical(mis)quotes will be fun to listen to on the way to work! and of course, the music. thanks.

Sent by jay | 6:59 PM ET | 09-14-2007

Please, please make Stump Mike a regular feature, perhaps (loosely) related to a story? Also, it would be awesome to hear Mike's intro done by cheesy jingle singers to bouncy Tijuana-Brass-like music. Although I think most NPR members would find it a poor use of their pledge dollars. I do not; I am willing to sacrifice for the BPP! (Do we NEED that National Desk?)

Sent by Petro | 11:14 PM ET | 09-14-2007

Steve,
I find it unfortunate but commonplace that you equate finding religion with becoming "well adjusted". Most religions encourage its followers to communicate with a god or gods whose existence is entirely unproven, unprovable, and very suspect. Doesn't that make someone maladjusted? The prison system is on the right track, they just need to find new donors of reading material.

Sent by purple R | 1:27 AM ET | 09-15-2007

purple R,

So, you think that religion has no place in prison? Should prison have their freedom of religion? Or should our country curtail that freedom along with many other freedoms of prisoners'?

Also, I did not mean to imply that one must have religion to achieve a "well adjusted" state; it simply is "commonplace" to assume that it helps. Further, I doubt that you're suggesting that anyone religious -- prisoner or not -- is not "well adjusted" either.

Sent by Steve Petersen | 10:18 AM ET | 09-15-2007

Having BRCA1 or BRCA2 doesn't necessarily guarantee that a woman will get breast or ovarian cancer, but the odds aren't promising. According to the NYTimes article, "Women with a clinically significant mutation in one of those genes have a 35 to 84 percent probability of developing breast cancer by age 70 and a 10 to 50 percent probability of developing ovarian cancer, far higher than for women in general."

After a relative of mine came down with both ovarian cancer and breast cancer, she got tested. It turns out she's a BRCA1 carrier, and that knowledge allowed her sister and cousins to make an informed choice as to whether they should get tested as well. Thankfully they have all come back as negative. If she hadn't gotten tested in the first place, they probably would never have done it, since our family had no history of these particular cancers, as far as we knew.

While the BRCA mutations are rare in the general population, they're 10 times more common among Ashkenazic Jews. Perhaps these advertisements for BRCA genetic testing should be more targeted. I'd be curious to know if any of their ads take this into account.

Sent by andy carvin | 10:11 AM ET | 09-17-2007

Steve,
You raise good points, and I believe there are good responses. Because being in prison means the loss of many freedoms, foremost the right to get up and leave, restricting religious literature along with pornography and bomb making instructions makes sense. There is much evidence that strongly religious people have been violent leaders and followers in the past (crusades, Jim Jones, al qaeda). Not all people, but then not all pornography and bomb making readers go on to be violently disruptive. In the quest for rehabilitation, the prison system needs to make choices about how to best help those that are incarcerated to become better citizens.
I'm probably in a minority, but I do believe that religion hurts, rather than helps, one from participating in a cooperative and non-violent society. I do challenge the assumption that religion helps that goal. The historical facts simply do not bear that out. There is a wealth of literature out there our prison libraries could have that can be more helpful in the difficult endeavor of rehabilitation. Society needs to be more proactive in supplying those educational aids, and less concerned with an eye for an eye

Sent by purple R | 1:16 PM ET | 09-17-2007

purple R,

Great responses.

I can see why prisons would want to ban texts that promote violence -- even if they're religious, but other texts like the Bible, Koran, and Torah are different in my view.

Further, I'll respectfully disagree with the assertion religion does more harm than good. However, I do concede that people do misuse it to inspire people to act violently and to otherwise belittle others, but so much good is also done in religion's name.

Sent by Steve Petersen | 2:13 PM ET | 09-17-2007

thanks purple r for saying this with such grace and insight...

Sent by jay | 2:57 PM ET | 09-17-2007

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