Willing Your Children To Greatness

It is by far the most intriguing news to come out of the unmitigated post-mortem on Michael Jackson: in the event that his mother was not able to take his kids, they were to go to the similarly legendary Diana Ross. While Ross and Jackson had a real relationship, it occurred to me that it was a great exercise to imagine the celebrity you would most want to take over guardianship for your kids, pets, estates, etc. I call Michael Chabon; I've been hoping he and his wife, Ayelet Waldman (author of the great book of essays, Bad Mother) would adopt me for years!

-- Barrie Hardymon

Tags: Ayelet Waldman | Michael Chabon | Michael Jackson

3:50 PM ET | permalink

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My Boss's Brain Tumor

Our boss, TOTN executive producer Sue Goodwin, was recently diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Benign's good, right? Well, sorta.

Now, relatively speaking, benign is a good thing. Far better than the alternative. But, it turns out, benign brain tumors can still grow. Given enough time, some can affect major brain function and even become malignant. I was scared.

Sue blogged about it for NPR's health blog. The twist? In reaching out to others who understand "the anxiety of [her] in-between experience," she started to understand how and why so many of us -- her staff members -- find and make the time for social networking. Read on... And maybe call a doctor if you ever inexplicably smell burning rubber.

-- Sarah Handel

Tags: benign | brain tumor

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Fireworks Suck

Fireworks in Washington D.C. Camera Slayer

 

Just in time for the Fourth of July, Troy Patterson argues in Slate, "fireworks suck."

Just as it is incalculably more thrilling to watch a piano burn than, say, kindling, there is more satisfaction in watching actual stuff explode-cars, volcanoes, toasters, what have you-than in witnessing explosions that produce only bombast. When fireworks blow up, the only things up-blowing are the fireworks themselves. There is no drama. There is violence but there is not sex. There is a feeling of danger without a corresponding spirit of adventure.

-- Scott Cameron

Tags: Fourth of July | Slate | Troy Patterson | fireworks

11:29 AM ET | permalink

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July 2nd Show

Protesters demonstrate waterboarding on a volunteer. (At the end of today's first hour we'll talk with NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard about complaints that we don't call waterboarding "torture".) Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Violence On Your Street
When a neighborhood is struck by violence, the aftermath reverberates throughout the community. People who live in urban and suburban areas talk about how their town or neighborhood reacted to violence, and how it changed their daily lives and relationships.

NPR, Waterboarding And "Torture"
NPR's Ombudsman Alicia Shepard responds to complaints that the network doesn't call waterboarding "torture" and has instead referred to the practice in language like, "harsh interrogation techniques that include waterboarding, which many consider torture."

Doctors Walk A Fine Line On Pain Killers
The deaths of Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith focused attention on prescription pain killers. And many speculate that Michael Jackson was taking pain medication. Even in cases that are not high profile, doctors walk a precarious line in treating patients who are seeking relief from chronic pain. Today, physicians and nurses talk about the pressures they face to manage pain, and monitor abuse.

Infomercial Confessions
It slices! It dices! It... entices! We want to hear your infomercial confessions. Fess up! What product did you buy from infomercials, and why? But wait, there's more.....

-- Gwen Outen

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A Full Recovery

Reproduced with permission.

 

Speaking of publications a little off the beaten path, one that comes to me is On Patrol, the magazine of the USO. I'm not sure how I got on this particular subscription list, but the fledgling publication's second issue has the cover reproduced above, and it's arresting. I can't walk by it without reading it. It's a letter that was written by a wounded Navy SEAL, displayed on the door of his hospital room while he recovered. In case the image above isn't big enough, it reads:

ATTENTION

To all who enter here

If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received, I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the absolute utmost physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20% further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, GO ELSEWHERE.

The letter has since been donated to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The Summer issue isn't up yet online, but you can find the Spring edition here.

-- Sarah Handel

Tags: On Patrol | USO

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What Does The End Of The Recession Look Like?

I thought maybe I found a bit of good news on the economic front in Foreign Policy. They asked a series of experts what the end of the recession might look like:

Their consensus? The end of the recession looks much like the recession itself. We are at the end of the beginning of bad times.

-- Scott Cameron

Tags: Foreign Policy | economy

4:38 PM ET | permalink

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Swedish News, Now More Fun

Why is it worth reading the The Local, otherwise known as "Sweden's News In English?" Because of gems like this. "CEO gives board members a pornographic surprise."

The CEO of a municipal housing company in Dalarna in central Sweden has been reprimanded after pornographic pictures popped up during a recent presentation to the company's board ... When the CEO pushed the button on his computer it wasn't the meeting's agenda which appeared, but a picture of a naked woman, the Dalarnas Tidningar newspaper reports.

That's right, he was just reprimanded. And the CEO's reaction was fairly hilarious. "I'm really sorry," he said, "It was a mistake that runs counter to all standards of morality. But it's not illegal. It wasn't child porn or anything like that, but a naked woman." He went from from zero to 60 on the morality scale pretty fast, don't you think? Other great headlines from The Local include: "Elk couple on Sunday morning stroll through Gothenburg,"Swedish docs cleared over misplaced colon," and "Malmo win for topless Swedish bathers." Last but not least? "Sweden set to sizzle into July." No kidding!

-- Barrie Hardymon

Tags: Elk | Sweden | bad powerpoint

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July 1st Show

President Obama is not moving fast enough on domestic partnership issues for some gay rights advocates. Photo by Damian Dovarganes/AP

Political Junkie: Sex Scandal, 60 Democrats, Gay Backlash
The recount is over in Minnesota. Now Senator Al Franken wins and Democrats reach their magic number. Ken Rudin will talk about that, plus Gov. Mark Sanford speaking up about the affair with his "soul mate." Also, we'll look at whether or not politicians reflect public attitudes when it comes to gay rights. Some advocates are saying President Obama is not moving fast enough on the issue.

FDA Panel Wants Ban on Painkillers
An FDA advisory panel recommended a ban on two popular presciption painkillers -- Percocet and Vicodin -- to prevent acetaminophen overdosing, which can cause liver failure. We'll answer your questions about what this could mean for your next trip to the drugstore.

Generation Broke
There's an entire generation of younger Americans who are trying to start out in the worst economic crisis of their lives. Many are forced to change their plans and make tough choices on how to survive in a recession. We want to hear from recent graduates. Have you been able to find the job you wanted? How has the economy forced you to change your blueprint?

The First Reality TV Show?
The disintegration of their marriage made Jon and Kate Plus 8 one of the most viewed reality shows on cable television. But do you remember the Loud family? The documentary, An American Family, entered households in 1973 and followed the lives of Bill and Pat Loud and their five children. The filmmakers, Susan and Alan Raymond, talk about how the PBS series made way for what we now know as "reality TV".

-- Gwen Outen

11:21 AM ET | permalink

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And One Cord To Charge Them All

I am elated to finally see news of a universal phone charger. I have a metal basket in my kitchen full of chargers. There's an old Palm charger, a Blackberry charger, several for phones I don't own anymore, and several for phones that I do. This appears to be an agreement across the EU, but I can only imagine that this marks the beginning of the end for wall warts as we all know them. As CNET reports:

The initiative has many advantages. For one it makes it much easier for consumers who no longer have to worry about losing their one and only cell phone charger. It also cuts down on waste since people can reuse their cell phone chargers when they get a new phone. Even though some cell phone manufacturers were reluctant to give up their proprietary cell phone chargers for fear that it would make it easier for customers to switch to new phones from competitors, eventually standardizing on one technology will help these manufacturers reduce costs.

-- Scott Cameron

Tags: cell phone | charger | cnet | smart phone | wall warts

4:15 PM ET | permalink

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Kathy Griffin, D-List As They Come

Unfortunately, Bravo TV's site always crashes my computer, or I'd embed a video from there. Sorry, Bravo!

I watch plenty of TV, but I'm a multi-tasker -- usually I'm eating dinner, at the very least, but more than likely, I'm searching online for travel deals, catching up on blogs, or playing with my cats. Or maybe all four. Anyway, there's one show, to my knowledge, than I cannot do anything but simply sit and watch: Kathy Griffin's My Life On The D-List. I can't eat while I watch because I'll spit out half-chewed fish sticks as I howl with laughter. And I can't have my attention divided by the Internet or the felines, because I hate to miss a single joke. It's that funny. We've always wanted to invite Kathy to join us on Talk of the Nation, but the girl's got a dirty mouth and we're a live program. So, I'm delighted to present to you: Kathy Griffin -- on tape -- on Morning Edition.

-- Sarah Handel

Tags: Bravo TV | D-List | Kathy Griffin | My Life On The D-List

3:53 PM ET | permalink

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June 30th Show

Scenes from Spike Lee's 'Do The Right Thing'. (At the end of today's first hour, we'll talk about whether or not the film holds up.) Courtesy The Kobal Collection/Universal

Iranian Americans: What's Changed
Many Iranian Americans watched the 1979 revolution in the streets of Tehran, and now watch the violent crackdown from their living rooms in the U.S. Today, we hear from Iranian Americans about what the changes in Iran mean for them.

20 Years Of 'Do The Right Thing'
Conversations about race intensified during Barack Obama's presidential campaign, but Spike Lee's 1989 film Do the Right Thing brought racism to the front and center of pop culture and captured the racial tensions of urban America. Twenty years (and a black presidency) later, how does the movie hold up in capturing the racial divide?

A Day In The Life Of An Umpire
The sound of their voice can make or break a game -- and the fate of your post-game party. We're talking about umpires. Author Bruce Weber spent time learning how to call balls and strikes and points out in his book, As They See 'Em, that we really don't know the first thing about being an umpire. So umpires have your say: What don't we understand about your job?

Bargain Vultures
In the current economic slump, many consumers are finding bargains by lowballing salesmen or snapping up foreclosed homes. We'll explore the ethics of vulture consumers. Do you feel guilty taking advantage of another's misfortune?

-- Gwen Outen

11:10 AM ET | permalink

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The Infidelity App

Clearly marital fidelity is an issue for more than just politicians. More than 4 million people are now signed up for AshleyMadison. Never heard of it? It's a personals site for married people with the slogan, "Life is short. Have an affair." As you might expect, reaction to the site has been strong. Time magazine reports:

Critics call AshleyMadison a cruel sex site that profits from marital pain. "This is a business built on the back of broken hearts, ruined marriages and damaged families," says Trish McDermott, a dating-industry consultant who helped found Match.com and Engage.com....

"We're just a platform," responds CEO Noel Biderman. "No website or 30-second ad is going to convince anyone to cheat," he says. "People cheat because their lives aren't working for them."

Interestingly, the site sees a spike among men just after Father's Day, and a jump with women right after Valentine's Day.

-- Scott Cameron

Tags: cheating | infidelity | website

3:48 PM ET | permalink

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Re-Readers, Unite!

A serious contender for my second look: Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Robert Burdock

I've read a bunch of books in my life so far, and as with many movies, I generally forget all but the gist of the stories within weeks after closing their covers. So why is it, then, that I rarely consider rereading the ones I remember enjoying? There's something about rereading that's always seemed a little wasteful to me, that if I have time to read I should be digging into something new. But then I read "Now, Read It Again" by David Gates in Newsweek, and this bit, in particular, made me rethink things:

Most of us, though, have our own musical canon -- or why do they sell so many iPods? -- and no one feels guilty about listening to, say, Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime" just once in a lifetime.

Looking at that quote again, I'm wondering if he meant "more than once in a lifetime" instead of "just once in a lifetime." At any rate, I read it as saying, hey -- we listen to our favorite albums over and over again, why not revisit our favorite characters with similar regularity? And that makes a lot of sense to me.
So, do you reread your favorite books? Which covers do you crack open time and time again?

-- Sarah Handel

Tags: books | reading | rereading

12:32 PM ET | permalink

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June 29th Show

A fan leaves a tribute to Michael Jackson. (In today's second hour we'll talk about which of the many sides of Michael you remember, and what that reveals about you... and us.) Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images

Supreme Court Reverses 'Reverse Discrimination' Case
The high court ruled that white firefighters were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's earlier decision as an appeals court judge. We'll find out what that means for employers, and your next job opportunity.

What Are We Doing In Iraq?
On the opinion page, retired Lt. Col John Nagl explains why he believes it is time to rethink the end game as U.S. troops pull out of Iraqi cities. His article is entitled, After the Fire: Shaping the U.S. Relationship with Iraq

Remembering Many Sides Of Michael... And What It Says About Us
Michael Jackson's death shed light on the many conflicting images the public has of him. Depending on when you became a fan, those images may be hard to reconcile. Musician Lenny Kravitz reflects on Michael's music and syndicated talk show host Tom Joyner considers the wider meaning of Michael Jackson. Which Michael are you remembering most today? What does that reveal about you?

Preparing to move out of Iraq
For the past few months, Col. Gary Anderson has been working with reconstruction teams in Iraq. He will tell us what things look like for the U.S. on the ground as U.S. troops move out of Iraqi cities.

-- Gwen Outen

11:45 AM ET | permalink

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A Poorly Placed Casket Ad?

The obituary for Farrah Fawcett at the Los Angeles Times' website. Source: latimes.com

 

I was reading today's obituary for Farrah Fawcett when I scrolled down to see a casket ad fading in and out next to the story. Perhaps one of the dangers of automated ad placement on news sites?

-- Scott Cameron

Tags: advertisement | caskets | obituary

3:12 PM ET | permalink

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