Do we secretly harbor prejudices against those different from us?

Source: Brenda Anderson

 

A couple of months ago, this article, by science writer Siri Carpenter, popped up on the Scientific American website. It's about the science of bigotry; how much implicit bias affects us, and how we act on it. I'm deeply interested in the weird social behaviors our brains conceal -- no matter how much training we've had to ignore them. Do some digging on the web, and you'll find any number of association tests meant to test your hidden biases. (If you want to take one, you'll find them here, and here.) It got us talking (they don't call us Talk for nothing), about how you can possibly measure the buried prejudices in your subconscious, and what it would feel like, to face an unpleasant truth about yourself. We want to ask our listeners -- was there a moment when you realized you harbored a secret dislike of another social or ethnic group? How did you feel -- and how did you change it?

Seriously. Even in 3D, Beowulf, and the assorted monsters and dragons he kills, are boring as all get out. (Angelina Jolie's decolletage in real life has a lot more charisma then Grendel and his family in the movie.) Which brings us to this excellent op-ed about the importance of the stunt person. I have to say, I still think that the fighting in Spartacus is amazing -- and I've always railed against the CGI tiger-technics of Gladiator. I love video games, but I don't want my movies to look like a scene from GTAIV. I suspect I'm in the minority on this one. What do you think? Stuntpeople vs. special effects -- who wins?

Courtesy William Morrow/HarperCollins

Fat camp is one of those things. One of those things, you know, that you really sort of want to know more about. Whispers in the hall at school, "Did you see Jane? She has so lost weight. I totally heard she went to fat camp."

There's derision in the accusation, but probably a lot of curiosity, and even envy, too. I know I've always wondered about fat camp -- when MTV did its two-part special on a fat camp in the Poconos, I watched it twice, and I'm not alone.

Enter Moose. Blogger Stephanie Klein became famous by blogging frankly about her life and dating exploits, but she wasn't always popular. As a kid, Stephanie was fat. Her parents sent her to fat camp, and she's condensed those summers into a book she named after herself, Moose. It's revealing, it's candid, it's uncomfortable. At school, Stephanie was unpopular -- the jocks called her "Moose." At camp, she was popular, dating one of the most desirable boys, hanging with the cool girls... Until they turned on her. Turns out, fat camp's a lot like life on the outside, but recalibrated.

Did you spend your summers away, exercising, drinking tons of water, eating with chopsticks, and sneaking over to the boys' side of camp? What did you learn at camp... the good, the bad, the ugly?

A new ad for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) analogizes the worldwide celebrity of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to the fame enjoyed by Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. And it questions his ability to lead.

Hours later, the Obama campaign answered in kind:

Last night, pundits debated the efficacy of the ad. Has the McCain campaign gone negative?, they asked. Is there no turning back?

We'll talk about the effectiveness of negative political ads. Even if they're dirty, or wrong, do they work? What do you think.

Here's what's coming up on the last show of the week... and the month!!!

Prejudices often remain in the unconscious part of your brain, but there are tests that can reveal your hidden bigotry. In our first hour, a science writer and a psychologist will explain how racial preferences hide in our brains, and how those biases can be measured. We're still chasing an ender segment for the first hour, so stay tuned for that.

Childhood obesity is a growing problem, and many parents are turning to weight loss camps as a solution. But do those camps really work? Stephanie Klein, author of Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp, will join us in our second hour to talk about her life as a chubby teenager, her summers spent at various weight-loss camps, and her struggle to be accepted by her peers. At the end of the hour, John Geer, author of In Defense of Negativity: Attack Advertising in Presidential Campaigns, will explain whether or not attack ads really do bring down presidential opponents.

C'mon, Brett, can't you just be satisfied with an ESPY award?

Source: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Over the past week a couple of things have come up that I just have to blog about. One, Brett Favre, what are you doing to me?! I celebrated your retirement, lauded you as "one of the best quarterbacks to play the game," and "a cultural touchstone." That wasn't enough for you? I fear your comeback, and the way it's already tainting my memories of you. Let me put it to you this way: As a kid, I was a huge Michael Jordan fan. I had Michael Jordan t-shirts, Michael Jordan books, and even got to see him play versus the Washington Bullets* (it was amazing -- he had a perfect, length-of-the-court breakaway slam dunk that I'll never forget, though it was just another day at the office for Air Jordan!). When he retired, I mourned. But when he came back (I don't count his baseball year -- I mean in 2001) -- to Washington, no less? I despaired. Comebacks are rarely pretty. And Brett, if MJ can't do it, neither can you.

Secondly, I have a confession. After all my brave talk about forsaking my CD collecting habit and switching to MP3s, I relapsed. Last weekend my beau and I had the unbridled joy of spending a few days in Athens, GA. We had a stylish, classy rental car (read: Kia. I shouldn't bash it, though -- we only had to fill the tank once!) with a CD player, and while at a swap meet at the fabulous 40 Watt Club, I came across a row of boxes of CDs, each only a dollar. A dollar! You can't buy an album of MP3s for a dollar, and even if you could, you sure as heck couldn't rock to it in the Kia! The first disc my eyes landed on was the Old 97's, and I was hooked. So add four to my tally, and consider me back on step one with that particular challenge. Oh well.

*Ok, so I'm dating myself significantly here. But so what -- today I am 30! I officially have gravitas and adulthood. I'm now allowed to say things like "back in the day," and "in-the-snow-uphill-both-ways." Hooray!

Every Wednesday, NPR's political editor Ken Rudin joins us to talk about the presidential campaign, and other political news. And this week is spicy, spicy! Veteran Republican Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted on seven felony counts. New polls show John McCain leading among likely voters, and Barack Obama didn't quite get that "bump" from his overseas trip the Democrats had hoped for. Michigan voters go to the polls next week for a primary election for a highly contested, and controversial, congressional seat. And buzz continues to build over Obama and McCain's Veep choices. And if that isn't enough -- wait, there's more! -- Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr will join us to take your questions about his race for the White House. If you've got questions for our Junkie, leave them here.

Journalists greet Sen. Barack Obama at the Unity conference.

Source: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

When Senator Barack Obama appeared at the UNITY: Journalists of Color conference in Chicago, the crowd had an unusual reaction for a group of hardboiled journalists. They applauded, and with some enthusiasm. That moment of applause has received more attention than most of the tough questions that were asked. (Leonard Pitts sure put Senator Obama on the hot seat.) But it raised some interesting questions -- mainly, what should the relationship between journalists and campaigns be? Lisa Shepard, NPR's Ombudsman, has some thoughts on the matter... and we want to hear what you think. Was the applause appropriate?

Seven years ago, when it was bidding for the Olympic Games, China promised that journalists would have unfettered freedom to report during the event. That pledge, it seems, no longer stands.

Reporters in the Olympic Village say they're unable to access certain web sites. Namely those with information on the Taiwanese independence movement, Tibet, and Falun Gong. They can't navigate to amnesty.org or Radio Free Asia, either.

The International Olympic Committee sent us this statement:

The IOC has always encouraged the Beijing 2008 organisers to provide media with the fullest access possible to report on the Olympic Games, including access to the internet. BOCOG [Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad] has said 'sufficient and convenient' internet access will be provided for the media to cover the Games. Today we learned there are issues accessing some websites. Therefore we are talking with the organisers to understand exactly the situation is and to see what may need to be rectified.

During the second hour, we'll talk to a handful of reporters and editors, charged with covering the Games in Beijing. How much freedom will they really have? How much of their coverage will they devote to foreign policy, human rights, and protests?

We'll speak with Anthony Kuhn, NPR's estimable Beijing correspondent, who kindly agreed to wake up at 3:00 a.m. (Beijing), to go to our bureau; Jonathan Paterson, an assignment editor at the BBC, responsible for planning the organization's coverage of the Games; and Terry McDonell, the managing editor of Sports Illustrated.

Come August 8th, when the Olympics begin, what do you want to read, hear, and see? Are you principally interested in the events, or do you want stories about the political climate in China?

Duly noted, Barrett Strong. So do thousands of college students trying to make their tuition payments while subsisting on more than just a cup of Ramen noodles. It's hard out there for a... you know... But also for parents and students: skyrocketing tuition prices, byzantine financial aid applications, and predatory student lenders are causing so many headaches, it's a wonder anyone ever graduates.

On Monday, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), a major non-profit lender, announced that it won't be able to loan money to college students this fall. That means some 40,000 families in the Bay State will have to hustle to find other loan options. Over the past 10 months, Congress has passed legislation to overhaul the student loan industry, but families and many lenders are still feeling the pinch. Today, we'll take a look at how student financing is coping -- or not -- in this slow economy.

So parents and college students, as fall semester approaches, how will you fund this year's tuition?

In this week's edition of the political junkie, NPR's Ken Rudin will talk about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) ratings following his foreign tour, Senator Ted Stevens' (R-AK) recent indictment, and John McCain's medical results. And Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr will discuss his race to the White House. Later, we'll be joined by NPR Ombudsman Lisa Shepard for a conversation about journalists and political campaigns. What are the guidelines concerning a journalist's participation in the politcal process?

In the months leading up to the Olympics, China has been reluctant to let go of control of media coverage of the games. The International Olympics Committee has taken a stance that the Olympics is a sporting event and should not mix with politics. Correspondents in our second hour will discuss the challenges of covering the Beijing Olympics. Should a line be drawn between covering sports and human rights issues in this year's games? At the end of that hour, we'll talk about the announcement made by the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority that it will stop lending out private student loans. Paul Basken, a senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, will talk about what this move could mean for the future of student loan programs.

I think it's a testament to how much I miss college that I keep pitching these high(ish) conceptual international affairs shows. (See last week's show on prisoner swaps.) Don't get me wrong, I, too, was swooning over Mad Men during yesterday's editorial meeting. But while I'm eagerly awaiting the second season premiere of Gossip Girl,* I'm also a total sucker for lecture hall debates over the intricacies of international relations.

War crimes tribunals are no exception. A few weeks ago I saw an article that suggested that the pursuit of justice in the eyes of the international community may be at odds with the pursuit of peace. It seems so counterintuitive -- isn't promoting peace the reason the world has banded together to set up all of these international institutions? Then last weekend I saw this article that suggested that some people believe that indicting a war criminal during an on-going conflict only contributes to the continuation of that conflict. Think about it, would you go out of your way to end the genocide, if you knew that even with peace restored there would be an indictment hanging over your head?

So, the question we are asking today is: what's more important, justice (even if it's a symbolic gesture at the time, it could stand as a deterrent to future war criminals) or peace (ending conflict and saving lives right now)?**

* It's Monday September 1st btw
** And, yes, to all you reasonable people out there -- the answer is a little bit of both. But think about it this way: if you had to make a choice, where would you put your resources?

Last week we had a conversation with Jane Kamensky about the U.S.'s rich history of bank runs. While it definitely put the IndyMac failure in context, it left y'all with quite a few questions about the safety of your money, and specifically, credit unions. So today, Liz Pulliam Weston will take your calls... but first, here's a preview from the personal finance columnist herself. Take it away, Liz...

With the high-profile failure of IndyMac bank, many people are worried about the safety of their savings. Here's what you need to know:
Bank accounts are typically insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), an independent federal agency, with a basic insurance amount of $100,000 per depositor. Certain retirement accounts, such as individual retirement accounts, are insured up to $250,000 per depositor. For more information, visit the FDIC's Web site.
Most credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Administration, which is also an independent federal agency. Like the FDIC, the NCUA is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, with a basic insurance amount of $100,000 per depositor per credit union, with coverage of up to $250,000 for certain retirement accounts. For more information, visit the NCUA Web site.

What would you do in a disaster?

Source: millzero.com

I've always been a big fan of movies like Twister and Dante's Peak and The Day After Tomorrow. You see mankind pushed to the limit from the safety and comfort of a movie theater, or your living room. But when I watch these movies, I can't help but wonder how I would respond if I ever found myself in the middle of torrential floods or a harrowing tornado or an explosive volcano. I envision what I might do, or fail to do, in that crucial moment when escape is possible.

Journalist Amanda Ripley, who covers disasters for Time magazine, says that most people facing disaster act in surprising ways. It's not the hysterical, every-man-for-himself mentality we often see in the movies. On the contrary, people often remain surprisingly calm. She interviewed survivors from Hurricane Katrina and the attacks on the World Trade Center -- as well as survivors of fires, plane crashes, stampedes, massacres and earthquakes -- to find out what they learned from the experience. The result is a new book called The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes -- and Why. She joins us today to talk about how to think clearly -- and get out alive -- in crisis situations.

And we want to hear from disaster survivors. If you've survived a fire, flood, earthquake, shooting spree, tsunami, or plane crash -- what went through your head at the time? And how'd you get out alive?

Is this who you want to hire?

Source: mikebaird

In this economy, it can be tough to get a job... And once you make it to the interview stage of the proceedings, it's not getting any easier. Lynne A. Sarikas at Northeastern University has been compiling the strange questions that come up in more and more job interviews. Sure, there are places you'd expect wacky questions like, "What animal would you say you most compare to, and why?*" But banks and biotech firms are throwing interview curve balls too, so you better be prepared. They want to catch you off-guard, see how you handle the unexpected. Have you run into one of these crazy questions lately? What was it, and how did you respond?

*While I don't know my response to this question, I might be tempted to steal my Dad's -- he's long identified with sea otters, swimming on their backs and cracking open a shellfish lunch. Sounds like a great life, but I'm not sure it'd help me get a job!

In our first hour today, two experts on the International Criminal Court talk about the debate on whether or not war crime tribunals work. Some complain these trials are pointless, while others say that they serve justice and allow victims to come to terms with the atrocities that were committed against them and their neighbors. And later, in our letters segment, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke continues his conversation about the meeting he had with Radovan Karadzic in Belgrade in 1995. And personal finance columnist Liz Pulliam Weston explains whether credit unions or banks are safe havens for your money during these tough economic times.

Most of us have imagined how we would respond when disaster strikes, playing out in our minds what we would or wouldn't do to make it out alive. Journalist Amanda Ripley interviewed survivors from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as survivors of floods, fires, stampedes, and earthquakes. In our second hour, Ripley talks about what people who survived disasters learned from the experience and her new book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes -- and Why. And of course we want to hear from you. Have you survived a plane crash, a fire or a flood? What went through your mind at the time and how did you escape?

"Fine, but I do not wish this mascot well."

Source: JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

Welcome to another edition of Unintentional Hilarity. (I cannot tell you how much I look forward to this. I might start making it daily.) Today's inadvertent giggle comes courtesy of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev -- remember, he's from a part of the world known for its literature, but not necessarily its humor. (If you're going to write to me about the funny bits in Brothers K, I'll probably make fun of you, so, save it.)

In any case, here is Medvedev, attending a well-wishing ceremony for his country's Beijing-bound athletes, where -- apparently -- basketball player Andrei Kirilenko gave him the mascot that he's holding. Either he thinks the mouse (is that a mouse?) is booby trapped, or he doesn't approve of his country being represented by something so small and funny-looking. Gone are the days of the furry, stuffed hammer and/or sickle. Sigh.

Last week, the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee held a hearing, to re-examine the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Of the witnesses called to testify, many said they want gays and lesbians to be able to serve freely. There were critics, also. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, testified against any repeal. (If you haven't read Dana Milbank's assessment of Donnell'y testimony, you should.)

In the first hour today, we're going to center our conversation on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," 15 years after it was implemented.

Ben McGrath, a staff writer for The New Yorker will join us, to talk about Maj. Alan Rogers, whom he profiles in the most-recent issue of the magazine. Rogers was, perhaps, the first gay serviceman killed in action in the war in Iraq, and as McGrath writes, he kept his two identities: as a gay man and a soldier, completely separate.

And we'll hear from Jamie Barnett, a retired rear admiral, who argues that it is time to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." "An estimated 65,000 gay men and lesbians serve in the U.S. armed forces, though by law they cannot be open about their sexuality," he writes. "As we fight two wars, our military is stretched thin. Those gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and members of the Coast Guard are essential."

What do you think? Is it time to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"? Is it working? We especially want to hear from members of the Armed forces, active or retired.

Last weekend my roommate and I planned to go to the Mount Pleasant farmers market here in Washington, buy lunch ingredients and then have a picnic in Meridian Hill Park. Unfortunately, it was almost too hot to shop out doors, never mind eat outside. So instead we resigned to have a "bourgeoisie picnic" -- that is, an air-conditioned picnic -- in our living room complete with cucumber sandwiches, lemonade and prosecco. Why do I bring this up? Because it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of today's oped. Well almost nothing. Our little "bourgeoisie picnic" WAS the image that popped into my head when I began to think about elitism all of ten minutes ago, but after reading through Mark Swed's article for the LA Times, it's quite obvious that my weekend lunch was haughty at best, but really a far cry from elite.
Rather, elitism is just a way to categorize "the best" and not only has it got a bad rep, says Mark Swed, but we should use the word more... what do you think... when is categorizing "the best" helpful... and when is it not?

Big shoes to fill.

Source: Hulton archive/Getty Images

I'm not convinced that mystery deserves its own genre -- after all, doesn't every kind of fiction have a mystery to be solved? But if it does, we all know who belongs in it. Giants of literature: Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Walter Mosley. So who are these bold new authors who want to take on the genre -- who believe they can bring something fresh to the crime novel, the thriller, or the smoky noir detective story? Tana French's crime mysteries, In the Woods and The Likeness, both kept me up with a booklight -- and Louis Bayard's literary thrillers are the reason I'm currently sleepy. We want to hear from you, Poirot-o-philes, Dashiellites, Agathans... what do you think makes a mystery modern?

Two straight months of watching HBO's Deadwood has had an odd effect on me. My language is both worse, and better (read: filthy, but creative), and I've been thinking more seriously about the role of women in period TV drama.

If you're a woman in 1870's Deadwood, god help ye -- ironically, your career options are pretty much the same as they are in Grand Theft Auto IV. You can check the box marked whore, wife, or misfit, and be sure that you're going to get the bejeezus kicked out of you at some point. Amazingly, the women of Deadwood (the TV series, at least), kick and scream and chafe within their proscribed roles. Calamity Jane, the series misfit, has simply rejected gender roles entirely -- and is without a doubt, one of the best men in the camp. These women seem -- modern, somehow -- resigned, but momentously discontented.

Fast forward to a resigned, but much more contented lot -- the women of AMC's Mad Men, which started its second season last night. Guess what; a hundred years after the mayhem of frontier injustice, things aren't that much better (except wardrobe). Systemic sexism, universal racism, and sweaty heels damning otherwise sassy broads with "Thanks, sweetheart." It's vile. And, I'm pretty sure that even Alma Garrett would have kicked Betty Draper right in the corset. Reader, it rankles -- so much, that the slings and arrows of everyday attitudes hurt more. I saw a picture of Tina Fey in InStyle, with the caption, "From Brainy, To Beauty!" Well, thank goodness she can be pretty -- God forbid she just be smart and funny AND RUN AND WRITE HER OWN HIT TV SHOW.

So -- why does Deadwood's outright hostility toward women, bother me so much less than the viciously pleasant disdain in Mad Men? I mean, women are murdered in Deadwood. No one's trying to kill anything in Mad Men except possibly spirits (which they're also drinking heavily). I haven't yet figured this one out -- but I suspect it's because the women have bought in to the 1960's sexism. They think they have it good -- they really believe they're second class. Trixie, a prostitute in Deadwood -- knows she's totally screwed no matter what she does (no pun, etc.). She may be resigned to her fate, but she's pretty angry about it, and that, at least, is therapeutic to watch. But Betty Draper, the maligned Barbie married to our hero, Don Draper (who's a $&^%), thinks she's a lucky duck -- never mind the anxiety disorder, or that HER HUSBAND TALKS TO HER SHRINK BEHIND HER BACK. Sigh.

In the end, the real heartbreaker is that Deadwood seems like another world, but Mad Men looks familiar (I mean, I would wear all of Joan's wardrobe). It's not that long ago -- maybe my grandmother was treated this way. I understand Peggy and Joan -- I work in an office, I've cried in the bathroom, and occasionally, I need help carrying my stuff out to the car. The similarity ends there. Both my bosses ... are women.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below, a taste of Peggy trying out liberation, as opposed to libations. Oh, And by the way -- none of the women on the show were nominated for Emmys. Sigh. Maybe they'll win some kind of beauty award.

I'm back from vacation, Neal Conan is on vacation, and Lynn Neary is our host all week. Now that you're up to date, here's what's coming up on the show today:

In our first hour: Do ask, do tell? Last week, Congress held its first hearing on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military since it was enacted fifteen years ago. According to The Chicago Tribune, "lawmakers focused on two questions: what effect a change in the policy would have on troop unity and whether the current policy is hurting recruitment and retention of service members who are gay." Tell us what you think. We'd particularly like to hear from members of the military. Fifteen years later, does "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" work?

In our second hour, we'll talk about the next generation of mystery novels. We'll talk with two modern-day mystery writers about how they create the perfect whodunit. What do you think is the most important aspect of a good page-turning thriller? Is it the setting? The main character? Or that "I knew it" plot twist at the end?

**Just to make our Monday a little more exciting, we're waiting until the last possible moment to solidify our enders for both hours today. Stay tuned, folks. We'll have something for you!

Speaking of economic indicators...

Source: Jeff Haynes/Getty Images

Listen -- I'm not going to pretend that it's not completely crappy out there. Gas prices, food prices, bank runs -- it feels like the economic Ragnarok. In the interests of soothing some of your anxiety though, we decided to take a moment to put it in perspective. The financial system is wounded -- but it's not broken. We'll get through this, and it's possible we'll end up with a much healthier economy in the long run. In the meantime, what are the economic indicators you should pay attention to as we wait for this slow-drip bad news to stop? Tell us what you're looking at -- and we'll give you a little advice.

Riding into the sunset, perhaps?

Photo By Toby Canham/Getty Images

Yes, I've seen the new Batman movie, and Iron Man, and Superman Returns, and all the Spiderman films. And I'm apparently in good company... These are all movies that made gobs of money at the box office. I'd likely plunk down my $8 for the next in each series, too. But with comic book characters winning the day in movie houses, the New York Times' A.O. Scott raises a disturbing question for any fan of the cape and mask genre:

Any comic book fan knows that a hero at the height of his powers is a few panels removed from mortal danger, and that hubris has a way of summoning new enemies out of the shadows. Are the Caped Crusader and his colleagues basking in an endless summer of triumph, or is the sun already starting to set?

And before you brush it off as some sort of overly intellectual attack on comic book films, consider the evidence... Every comic book movie must follow a simple format (good guy v. bad guy, lots of action, evil never wins), and after many years of churning out movies full of bodysuits and secret identities, Hollywood may simply be running out of creative ways to get into and out of the big showdown with the villain. As comic book movies go, A.O. Scott gives credit to The Dark Knight for stretching farther than any of its kind so far. But he argues this may represent a peak... both in terms of pushing the limits, and in representing the beginning of an inevitable decline.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama spoke at the Victory Column in Berlin's Tiergarten today, to a sea of people numbering in the tens of thousands. The speech was only one part of his itinerary in a week-long tour of Europe and the Middle East. In it, Obama summoned a cross-Atlantic alliance, in which he called on Europeans and Americans, together, to "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it." He went on to say, "The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand." Today we'll talk to NPR's Ron Elving, and to the director of the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, Constanze Stelzenmuller, about what the speech means, and how Obama's image is shaping up abroad.

If you heard the speech, or have questions about how it was received here or in Europe, leave your comments here.

So mystery writer Howard Engel wakes up after a stroke one day and realizes that he has forgotten how to read. That's what his memoir Man Who Forgot How to Read is all about, well not quite, but you get the idea.
This captured my imagination from the moment I heard the pitch. I think the reason is that I recently heard an episode of WNYC's Radio Lab about a man who woke up one day and had "forgotten" how to walk (I'm sure that I'm butchering the scientific description of the loss of proprioception, but who doesn't?)
Moving on: so my first question was, if you forget how to read, can you still write? And if so what's the difference between reading and writing? When you forget how to read is it that you forget how to string letters together, or is it that you forget what a letter "Q" looks like?
Those are my questions, the first of them anyhow. What are yours?
And as an aside: I know this is a bit of a high-concept show for a Thursday afternoon, but stick with me... These conversations are incredibly compelling. Remember the interview we did about Mike May and his story about going from being blind to having sight Crashing Through. it was amazing!

For the last few days, Gwen and Sarah have been [patiently] training me to direct the show. Now that they're both on vacation, it's time for this little bird to leave the nest.* (Wish me luck.)

"How Bad Is It Really?" is the tentative title for the first hour. "It," you may have guessed, is the economy. We'll ask Adam Davidson, NPR's international business correspondent, to "take the temperature of the economy today." (Barrie's phrase.) And we'll ask you to tell us what indicators you use to decide whether or not the economy is good or bad.

At the end of the hour, we'll ask A.O. Scott, chief film critic for The New York Times, about superhero movies. This summer, there are tons of them. And wonders if the sun is starting to set on the genre.

In the second hour, Howard Engel, a well-known mystery novelist, will join us, to talk about his new book, The Man Who Forgot How To Read. His is a remarkable story. In 2001, a stroke rendered Engel unable to read.

And we'll hear a few excerpts from the speech Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is expected to give today, in Berlin. Ron Elving, NPR's senior Washington editor, and Constanze Stelzenmuller, the director of the German Marshall Fund, will give us their thoughts from their respective sides of the Atlantic.

Enjoy!

*Notice how I conservatively wrote, "leave the nest," not "fly."

Wait... so this was the guy who accused someone else of having a Nazi themed orgy? Awwwwkward.

Source: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Welcome to the second installment in our weekly photo series, Unintentional Hilarity! Today, peruse the photo above, and marvel at its subject. Here's the scoop. Formula One boss Max Mosley sued the British tabloid News of the World for invasion of privacy. He was accused in print of playing "sick Nazi sex games" in an orgy with several women. First of all -- really? Nazi-themed? How do you do that? Second of all, the guy in the photo is the editor of News of the World, and the picture definitely looks as if it's the pot calling the kettle Nazi. That's all I'm sayin'. Meanwhile, the kettle is pretty iffy, too -- Max Mosely is the son of a famous Hitler sympathizer and fascist (Oswald Mosely, if you must know). Anyhoo, Mosely won his suit, and can go back to regular themed orgies whenever he chooses. But watch out for that editor. He looks screwy.

Three things up for your consideration on today's Newseum edition of the Political Junkie (NEPOJU). First, Ken Rudin. Need we say more? Second, Senator Barack Obama's trip has been more than covered (see third topic), and we wondered -- what's it like to go on one of these junkets? Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT) has gone to Iraq 20 TIMES since 2003 -- he's got the lowdown. And then, last but not least -- media coverage of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain has people talking -- critics charge that the coverage of Obama's trip proves that there's a love affair going on. For more commentary, you must check out this hilarious Colbert clip. Enjoy.

Bosnian Serb wartime fugitive Radovan Karadzic was arrested by Serbian forces on Monday after more than a decade on the run. An estimated 100,000 people died in the Bosnian war, and another 1.8 million were driven from their homes. Karadzic has been indicted with charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. His war crimes trial is likely to begin at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague within days.

Karadzic wore thick glasses and grew a bushy white beard to conceal his well-known face, and worked as a doctor of alternative medicine under an alias. His arrest brings Serbia one step closer to admission into the European Union.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post titled "The Face of Evil," Ambassador Richard Holbrooke describes his meeting with Radovan Karadzic during the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords:

I had told each member of our negotiating team to decide for himself or herself whether to shake hands with the mass murderers. I hated these men for what they had done. [...] I did not shake hands, although both Karadzic and Mladic tried to. Some of our team did; others did not.

Holbrooke joins us today to discuss what Karadzic's capture means... for Bosnia, Serbia, and for war crimes tribunals. If you have questions about how the war crimes trial will proceed, or what Karadzic's capture means, leave them here.

Earlier this month, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard released a photograph of a missile launch, which Agence France-Presse distributed to news organizations around the world. It showed four missiles, in the air, shortly after ignition. As it turns out, that picture had been doctored. Another -- almost identical -- photograph, of the same site, showed three airborne missiles.

And just a week before, FOX News aired two manipulated photographs -- of Jacques Steinberg, a reporter for The New York Times, and Steven Reddicliffe, an editor at the newspaper. Their eyes had dark circles around them, their teeth had been yellowed, and their faces had been stretched.

Hany Farid, who teaches computer science at Dartmouth College, studies digital image forensics. His article, "Photo Tampering Throughout History," has dozens of examples of creative -- and dubious -- cropping, dodging, and blurring.

We'll hear from Farid and Vincent Laforet, a commercial and editorial photographer, based in New York. For many years, he was a staff photographer at The New York Times.

Do you care if the photographs you see in your newspapers and magazines, or on the Internet, have been changed? If only slightly? If so, why? And if you have any questions for Farid or Laforet, we'll take those too.

Starbucks feels the pinch.

Source: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

It's official: Starbucks is closing 600 stores across the U.S. I find it absolutely fascinating, and lack the historical memory to think of an analogous situation. Simply put, Starbucks is polarizing. I remember when 'Bucks moved into my college town. Athens, GA, when I was there, was a town proud of its local, independent coffee. We had a variety of choices, and I visited each coffehouse depending on my mood. When I wanted to get some fake studying done, I went to the hyper-social Blue Sky, right on College Avenue. I was always sure to run into a few people I knew there, and it was my favorite for a long time. Jittery Joe's had three locations I frequented -- the one by the 40 Watt, where I was likely to run into some cute skaters; the dark, cozy, intellectual one in 5 Points where heavy tapestries soaked up the aroma of coffee so thoroughly that an actual mug of the stuff was just a bonus; and the converted church that contained the roaster for the empire, where I "studied" with friends, our laughter bouncing off the wooden beams high on the ceiling. Have I convinced you, yet, that I love a local coffeehouse? So when Starbucks moved in just a few doors from Blue Sky, I moaned and groaned the the best of 'em. OH, "the man" is coming to kill our indies, blah blah blah. But you know what? I'm not sure that is what killed them. And I've read that in some areas, Starbucks may have fostered a coffee culture that actually supported and encouraged the independent shops. So, sure. Some die-hards will cheer the closing of 600 outposts of the evil empire. But elsewhere, folks are banding together to save their Starbucks. What do you think about Starbucks? Do you have one nearby? Do you go? And if your local is one that's closing, are you upset about it?

TOTN's always a hive of activity on Newseum Wednesdays, and here's what we're buzzing about. In our first hour, as ever, Political Junkie Ken Rudin's got all the best bits of political news for you from the last week, and a doozy of a trivia question. And Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) joins us to talk about trips to Iraq, plus Republican strategist Vin Weber. That's a whole lotta politics, people. We'll follow that with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke -- he's delighted with the capture of Radovan Karadzic, a man he called "One of the worst men in the world, the Osama bin Laden of Europe... A major, major thug has been removed from the public scene."

In our second hour, doctored photographs. After news hit that the photo of the Iran nuclear test that was widely distributed had been altered, we all took a closer look at it. So today, a discussion about the ethics of photojournalism, and how to detect a photo has been manipulated. Finally, Starbucks announced recently that it'll close 600 stores in the U.S. this summer. We want to know how the closures are affecting the communities -- Newark, for example, saw its Starbucks as a sign of its relevance and acceptability, and now some Newarkians (?) are banding together to try to save it.

These aren't my CDs, but they could be. The Beck, anyway.

Source: frumbert

I'm having the hardest time breaking up with my CD collection. Every time I move, packing up the CDs in perfect stacks so that when I unload them they stay in order is one of my major tasks, and the unload's even trickier -- do I remember my master plan, and pull the discs out correctly? The placement of the towered shelving is always one of my first decisions, and I'm not even some crazy audiophile with thousands of albums. As everyone switched to MP3s, though, I found myself clinging to the artifact. And as much as CD sleeves pale next to gatefold LP covers, they still mean something to me. I know exactly the texture of the paper used for Perfect From Now On. I know how some sleeves -- Whip-Smart comes to mind -- smell waxy. And I feel acutely disappointed every time I open a CD that has a simple page, printed only on one side, inserted in the cover. Even though I have to constantly cull my collection to make room for new music (for whatever reason, I refuse to buy more shelving), I keep buying the actual hard copies of albums. I'm trying to get on-board with downloading music, though. It's less expensive, more environmentally sound, and less space-consuming, true. I had a long conversation Friday with one of NPR's music geniuses, and after our conversation about music I just had to hear, I told him, "I'll download the Bon Iver in the morning, I promise, but I also know I'll forget every other record we've talked about so you'll have to remind me." It was my way of forcing myself into pressing "Buy" instead of standing in line at Best Buy. Sure enough, I did it. But I don't feel good about it. I don't feel like I really own the music, even though it's sitting on my iPod, and I can even see the cover art. Plus, I have an old-school fear of my computer freaking out and losing all my music -- what then? Have you switched to buying MP3s instead of 7-inches and CDs? Have you struggled with it? If so, what convinced you to do it?

I was talking to my father the other night, and, as usual, he asked me which segments I'm working on here at Talk of the Nation. I told him that I'm putting together a show on prisoner swaps; and, after I gave him the rundown on the different guests I was considering, he told me that Mohammed Abu Nasser, the man who kidnapped him back in 1989, had been released in a prisoner swap prior to the kidnapping. (Btw my father is fine. He was held for less than two days, and he was treated well. He says that he was served some amazing traditional Palestinian food during that time.) My family doesn't talk about the kidnapping very much, but I bring it up because it is a perfect example of why people oppose prisoner swaps. Not only does it mean that governments have to negotiate with entities they deem terrorists (Israel and Hezbollah), but often there was a reason those people were in prison in the first place. Yet, countries still do it. Why?

Today we are talking to Haaretz Defense Correspondent Amos Harel; author, former Israeli politician, and one-time "swapee" Natan Shransky; and Civil War historian Jeffry Wert about the logic behind prisoner swaps.

What do you think? If you were taken prisoner during a war or conflict, would you want your government to swap you?

Above, you will find the cultural touchstone that we all imagine when we think of the term "bank run." George Bailey, handing out his honeymoon stash, as the town of Bedford Falls converges on the Building and Loan.

Below, you will see a much less charming version -- as customers raid the collapsing IndyMac bank.

Turns out, the history of bank runs is uniquely American -- and more interesting than you'd think. Jane Kamensky fills us in on the bank panics in between these two. Any questions? Post 'em here, or rent It's A Wonderful Life.

I ask you, what wouldn't you do for this little snugglebunny?

Source: The Barrie Hardymon Audrey Archives

I'm happily engaged to a Kansan -- he grew up on a real, live farm, with pigs, cows, sheep, and a whole herd of barn cats. He seems to love my little fuzzbucket, Audrey (see above! SEE!), with all the enthusiasm a big strong bald man can muster for a super furry Persian spoiled brat...er... cat. Imagine my horror, then, to find out that in his youth, his family had to dispose (YES, DISPOSE) of some of the aforementioned cats. This, to a young woman raised in the relatively disconnected suburban universe, was cause for a tear or two, and some soul searching. We've worked it out since then, don't fear. But I'll tell you, living with a man who lived on a farm puts my deep, obsessive, probably unhealthy love of my kitty in perspective. A raft of articles appeared last weekend about how far we will, and do, go for our pets -- suffice it to say, after a staggering vet bill and some dog psychotherapy, Old Yeller probably would have made it. What's wrong with us? Are we crazy, disconnected, lonely? Have we gone too far in our pet-people relationships?

A few weeks ago, I sneaked out of NPR, to buy a sandwich for lunch. Two blocks away, I made my standard order: turkey and swiss on wheat, with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomatoes.

"Sorry. No tomatoes. Read the sign."

The sandwich maker gestured to a small piece of paper, taped to the sneeze guard. Because of a recent salmonella outbreak, the restaurant planned to remove tomatoes from its menu indefinitely.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to report that they're back. Tomatoes are "in the clear." Jalapeno peppers, though? That's another story.

At the end of our second hour, Dr. David Acheson, the associate commissioner for foods for the Food and Drug Administration, will tell us how his agency pinpoints the source of salmonella outbreaks.

If you have a question about food safety investigations, or what you can and cannot eat, leave it here.

Lots going on today, so let's get to it. In our first hour: prisoner exchanges. Most recently, Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah conducted an exchange -- the Israelis turned over five men for the remains of two of their soldiers. It seems incongruous -- five live men for two deceased -- and made us wonder about the logic and strategy behind such exchanges. Many governments insist they don't negotiate with terrorists, but in the end, deals get cut whether the public knows it or not. Then we'll take a refresher course on bank runs. Many were startled by the collapse of IndyMac, but professor and author Jane Kamensky says this is just the latest incident in a long tradition.

In our second hour: pet care. It may sound trivial, but more and more, owners are struggling about decisions over providing advanced medical care for their pets. It seems like pets used to visit the vet for simple things like spaying and shots, but now there's dentistry, chemotherapy, psychotherapy, and more. We want to know, where do you draw the line on medical care for your pet? Following that, there's been a break in the salmonella case: the most recent outbreak, once traced to tomatoes, has now been traced to jalapeno peppers in a Texas warehouse. The investigation's far from over, though, so we'll check in with "food safety czar" Dr. David Acheson of the FDA for an update.

Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried, the stars of Mamma Mia!.

Source: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Who else has "Mamma Mia!" stuck in their head? All weekend it's been, "Mamma Mia, here I go again. My, my, how can I resist you?" Superb marketing campaign -- the trailers were incessant. Even Habib, the check-in clerk at the airport, was humming the tune aloud. Well, resist her I couldn't. I finally caved on Sunday afternoon -- once I learned my plane back to DC had been delayed 8 hours -- and took my mom to go see it. I love Hollywood renditions of stage musicals -- they're the perfect opportunity to indulge in unabashed corniness.** Every time Meryl broke into song, the audience in the theatre started singing along and clapping rhythmically (I'd be remiss if I didn't report that the Valley crowd is more than a little tone-deaf. Beware.) At first I cringed, but ultimately decided to let go and embrace the magic. And magical it was. The movie as a whole was kinda "meh,"*** but you can't dismiss the splendor of the costume and set design. I want Ann Roth to design my wedding, that's all I'm sayin. All in all, I'd say it was good family fun. Have you seen Mamma Mia! yet? Give us your review.

*No, it's not Whitesnake. It's ABBA!!!
**And, as Kate put it so eloquently with her enviable British accent in The Holiday, "I'm looking for corny in my life."
***That's my technical term for mediocre, so-so, not-the-best-movie-ever-but-not-The-Postman-either.

So, I completely ripped the title of this post from the article of the same name by Conor Dougherty, but that's because it's so compelling. For so long, the story of American cities has been pretty simple: white people move out because they can, in search of better schools, more shopping, and acreage. But now, black populations in cities are dropping -- and it's causing a culture clash in surprising ways. (Scroll down the article for a story about ice cream that sounds like satire.)

The young woman at the counter handed me her credit card, and pushed another of Oprah's book gems, The Seat of the Soul,* across the counter. I was working at New York City's Strand Bookstore, where cashiers stood on a platform, allowing me to look down at customers (something I really, really enjoyed). The credit card read "Steven Smith."** "Um...," I said, "Are you Steven?"
"No," she said. "That's my dad's."
"Oh," I said. "Is this for school?"
"Uh-uh," she chirped. "I'm out of college."
Reader, I judged her. She was that cheerily subsidized college grad that I encountered often in the city -- cheery, I assumed, because they rarely paid their own New York rent, or were running around buying self-help books and silk cargo pants.*** This was X**** years ago, of course, and now that the economy has turned into a craponomy, the urge to subsidize kids post college is even stronger. Writing in Newsweek, Melody Serafino objects, suggesting that her peers' withdrawals from the parental bank is causing a raft of debt -- character debt. It's tough to say when your safety net becomes a safety hammock -- but I think we can assume that the seat of one's soul is probably not in your parent's credit card. Too judgy? You decide.

*Dated myself, big time, huh.
**Not the name, because I am too old, now, to remember.
***Triple point if you can pinpoint the year to which I am dating myself.
****A long time.

Mahvish Khan is the American daughter of Afghan immigrants. As a law student at the University of Miami, she wanted to do something to help both her country, and her parents' country, after 9/11. She decided to put her Pashto-speaking skills and knowledge of Afghan culture to good use as an interpreter for defense attorneys representing men held at Guantanamo's detention center. After many visits to the camp, Mahvish began to see the detainees as more than mere numbers -- they became her friends, and surrogate brothers and fathers -- prisoner No. 1154 became Ali Shah Mousovi, detainee No. 1009 became Haji Nusrat. She chronicles their stories, and gives a detailed account of what Gitmo looks, tastes and smells like, in her new book, My Guantanamo Diary: The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me. If you have questions about what life is like for detainees and lawyers at Guantanamo Bay, leave them here.

Heath Ledger as the Joker. Wonder what other cards he has up his sleeve...

Source: NiJoKeR

 

I stood in line with my cousins for 3 hours this weekend to get perfect seats for The Dark Knight. I almost didn't go to see it -- I found myself tearing up every time I saw Heath's face in one of the trailers, so I didn't think I'd be able to get through all 150 minutes without completely loosing it to a waterfall of snot and tears -- his untimely death still gets to me. But I'm glad I decided to brave it in the end. His performance as the Joker was INCREDIBLE. That doesn't even do it justice. Let me put it another way -- it was UN. BE. LIV. ABLE. Utterly A. MA. ZING. Downright PHE. NOM... well, you get the idea. He was a total scene stealer -- Christian Bale, who, wha? Even the special effects took a back seat to Heath's chaotic antics, eerie smirk, and spine-shivering (am I inventing adjectives?) laugh. There's passionate debate among my friends over whether Heath deserves an Oscar nomination, and what his chances are of winning posthumously. I think he absolutely deserves a nod for Best Supporting Actor. The physical manifestations of his character -- the precision with which he cultivated those disjointed, almost burlesque mannerisms -- should be studied in acting classes. He had a rhythmic, sway-like walk, and I've never seen anyone lick their lips to such great effect. His representation of the Joker will, in my humble opinion, go down as one of the most iconic villains ever to grace (or terrorize, in this case) the screen -- much like Johnny's iconic hero, Jack Sparrow. At the very least, we'll see a lot of Heath-as-Jokers this Halloween.

Today, we talk to Washington Post writer Hank Steuver, who says the Joker is more interesting than the Dark Knight himself. I completely agree. So, what, if anything, do you find appealing about the Joker character in general, and this Joker in particular? And do you think Heath's performance deserves an Oscar?

Whew! It took us a while to get a show together, but now that we've finally got it, rest assured it's a good one (or four).

In the first hour, an article we couldn't stop talking about in the morning meeting: "The End of White Flight." For decades, the demographic story in American cities has been that of white flight -- white residents leaving town for the suburbs. Now, in some cities, the opposite is true. Cities may be growing, but their black populations are losing numbers. We'll find out what's behind the trend. And on the Opinion Page, another story from today's economy: twentysomething Melody Serafino is calling out her contemporaries for still living off of Mom and Dad's dime. When is it time to say no to help with the rent, to the cellular "family plan," to living at home?

In the second hour, an incredible story: Mahvish Rukhsana Kahn's My Guantanamo Diary: The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me. The American daughter of Afghan immigrants, Kahn wanted to do something for her country and that of her parents, so she went to Guantanamo to interpret for the lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees.

Finally, did you spend hours in line waiting to catch Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight? If you did, did you find the Joker more compelling than Batman himself? If so, you're not alone... So did Hank Steuver of The Washington Post. And we also want to know what you think about the possibility of a posthumous Oscar nod for Ledger.

I just spotted the Guardian's "Experience" series this morning and it's fascinating. From the looks of it, the paper takes submissions from people who have interesting experiences to share. Some strange ("I'm obsessed with the number twelve"), some horrifying. Saturday's headline reads, "Last year I killed a man."

At 9.45am on Saturday, June 23 2007, I killed a man. A perfectly ordinary man, on a perfectly ordinary summer's day. CCTV pictures show him entering the station, unremarkable among all the passengers going to the West End. He waited at the front of the platform until he could hear my train approaching, then he calmly stepped down on to the tracks and looked directly at me as he waited for the impact.

The rest is one man's first hand account of being in the wrong place at the wrong time... What was in his head the moment it happened (he prayed it was a prank), the reaction of his passengers ("Do you know there's a person under your train?"), and his own attempts to deal with what he saw (it didn't really register until he was faced with the man's name, and identity, and history).

I don't know how many people could tell a similar story, but the idea of a series dedicated solely to people's interesting life experiences has endless possibilities. Any strange, bewildering, hilarious, disturbing, or otherwise fascinating experiences you'd like to share?

On Sept. 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy traveled to Houston, to address students and faculty at Rice University. At Rice Stadium, he announced a national initiative to travel to, and to return from, the moon:

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Over the next few years -- an almost-impossibly-short period of time -- thousands of Americans worked to meet Kennedy's goal. And they did.

Today, in Washington, Al Gore issued a national challenge of his own, which some people are comparing to Kennedy's, for Americans to produce every kilowatt of electricity through alternative energy within 10 years.

Do you think it's feasible? How could we accomplish this goal?

In the first hour of our show, we'll talk with Gore. Then we'll expand the conversation, to discuss how he -- and organizations and other people -- can get more people interested in the campaign to curb climate change.

Army medic Joseph Dwyer with wounded 4-year-old Iraqi Ali Sattar in 2003. Dwyer struggled with PTSD and later died of substance abuse.

AP Photo/Warren Zinn, The Army Times Co.

 

Shooting a war can be brutal. Photojournalists see many of the things the soldiers see, and at the end of the day, they take their rolls of film -- or, more likely, compact flash cards -- and re-live everything they shot. Sometimes, a combination of skill and luck leaves the photographer with an iconic image, like the one above. And, sometimes, the story doesn't end when the photographer turns it over for publication. Warren Zinn, while working for The Army Times, took this photograph of soldier Joseph Dwyer carrying an injured Iraqi child, Ali Sattar, to get medical attention for his badly hurt leg. Zinn stayed in periodic touch with Dwyer, who struggled with PTSD. Recently, Zinn learned Dwyer overdosed and died, and it's left him with questions about how the photo that made Dwyer famous may have played a role in his emotional distress and eventual death.

After the assault -- the search for evidence is another violation.

Source: redwolfoz

Rape is a unique crime. It's worse in some ways, than almost any other kind of assault -- a form of mental and physical torture that cannot help but leave its victims changed. Part of that is because of the nature of the crime itself -- the victim is often treated with skepticism. And that skepticism, in turn, leads to a lack of reporting on sexual assault in general. But if a victim is brave enough to press charges, the process of recovering the evidence is like a second violation. Evidence collected for what's called a "rape kit" (hair, fluid, and other proof), is best recovered as soon after the attack as possible -- which means a rape victim, mental and physical wounds still fresh, must submit to examination and photographs, and being handled by several different strangers. This process is disturbingly captured in Human Rights Watch's Sarah Tofte's article for the LA Times. (A small warning: the article is hard to read.) And after all that, Tofte reports, rape kits are shelved; sometimes, for years, while victims wait for answers. We'll talk about the process of evidence collecting today, feel free to share your thoughts.

Are you going on a staycation this year?

Source: ismh

Gas prices are so high, and the dollar's so weak, that many of us are forgoing our usual family summer vacations, and opting to stay home instead. I'm from LA, which is usually plagued by copious amounts of traffic -- it's so slow on the 405 sometimes that you could play Jenga without the stack teetering at all.* But this past 4th of July, no one, and I mean literally no one, was on the freeway. It took me all of 40 minutes to get to Ventura Beach from my house. Normally, that would've been a 2 hour drive, easy, in holiday traffic. Not only that, but beach condos, which normally rent out by April or May for the summer, are still available, and cheaper than usual. Evidently, people are staying close to home.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published an article about "staycations" -- vacations that people take at home. And some of them get really creative about it, too -- from hitching camping tents in the living room, to rearranging the bedroom to look more like a hotel room (complete with a "Do Not Disturb" sign).

From time to time, we check in with Amy Dickinson, who writes the syndicated column "Ask Amy" for The Chicago Tribune. Recently, she's been getting a lot of mail from people who say the current economic situation is putting a strain on their relationships, and creating tension among family members. And now that people are taking vacations at home, who knows how high those tensions will rise.

What are you and your family doing differently as a result of the economy? Are the tensions rising? And if you have any questions for Amy, leave them here.

* Do not try this at home.

Hi folks! Gwen's a bit jammed up trying to head out of town for a well-deserved vacation, so I'm filling in for her today and next week. Here's what you can look forward to on today's TOTN:

Al Gore headlines our first hour, a discussion on what this moment means to the struggle for the environment. With gas prices through the roof (that's not a scientific measure, so don't quote me, but when I filled the tank of my economical car and it cost almost $50 I may have smacked the roof of the car in frustration...), environmentalists, including Mr. Gore himself, are hoping people are finally ready to listen to their alternative energy message. We've also got some folks who are trying to present the message in a different way, namely Matt Williams and Mike Hughes, the guys behind the "We Can Solve It" ads, and Randy Olson, who's got a new documentary called Sizzle. We'll end the hour with Warren Zinn, who took an iconic photograph of a soldier who later committed suicide.

In the second hour, more tough stuff. This time, rape kits. Producer Dalia Martinez has been hard at work pulling together a show on what happens after a woman is raped and reports it to a clinic or hospital. Sadly, the examination and collection of samples can be nearly as brutal and dehumanizing as the rape itself. Finally, we'll get "Ask Amy"'s Amy Dickinson's take on the economic downturn. Lots of readers have been writing to her about family dilemmas that have arisen because of the economy, and if you've got a question for her, you won't want to miss it.

Hanging on his every (other) word.

Source: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images

 

Welcome to our new blog feature (bleature?) in which I scour photo images of the past twenty-four hours, and find the most unintentionally hilarious moments. Here is the caption Getty Images has provided:

Cardinals and Bishops listen to a speech by Pope Benedict XVI to the massive crowd at the World Youth Day (WYD) festivities in Sydney on July 17, 2008. The world's biggest Christian festival opened on July 15 with thousands of pilgrims making the journey to take part in World Youth Day celebrations headed by Pope Benedict XVI.

You know, it's really hard to stay focused if you're jet lagged. I'm just sayin'.

I just saw Ken Rudin, walking down the hallway, wearing a necktie. A necktie!

It must be Wednesday. And time once again for "The Political Junkie."

As usual, we'll start with a trivia question. Then we'll plow through the news of the week: Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) have given speeches on Afghanistan, Iraq, and the economy. The economy! Former wrestler -- and governor -- Jesse Ventura announced that he would not run for an open senate seat in Minnesota. And there's that magazine cover...

Later in the hour, we'll talk about political put downs. What works? What doesn't? And why aren't there more of them? What is your favorite?

Robert Redford on Capitol Hill in April.

Source: Nancy Ostertag/Getty Images

Going green is all the rage now. Interior designers, car companies... Even McDonald's is doing the green thing. I have family members working for Greenpeace now. Green, my friends, is the way to be.

And Robert Redford agrees. We all know him as an Oscar-winning actor and director, but Redford has also been an environmental activist for over 30 years. He's done everything from lobbying Congress to producing documentary films about solar power. And, perhaps as an attempt to make Green seem hip, his most recent endeavor involves youth. Slam poets, to be exact. Sundance has teamed up with Youth Speaks, a presenter of spoken word performances, to get the message out, in rhyme.

Robert Redford joins us to talk about his work, and we'll also hear slam performances from two poets.

What have you done recently to get the message out about going green?

Dana Perino, President Bush, and Tony Snow last August.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

 

I have to say, Tony Snow was my favorite White House Press Secretary. As the show's tape producer, I've listened to more than a few press briefings, and his stand out in my memory. He was never afraid to admit he didn't have an answer for something, but seemed to empathize with reporters and their need for information. Today, his successor Dana Perino joins us to remember her mentor, colleague, and friend, and reflect on how he changed the job.

It's Wednesday, which means we're at the Newseum today. And we've got a great show planned for you. Here's what's coming:

NPR's Ken Rudin will join us for the Political Junkie in our first hour. This week, we'll talk about John McCain and Barack Obama's address at the NAACP annual convention, Green party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, and of course our trivia question. Then, we'll talk about the art of the political put-down with Chris Lamb, editor of the book I'll Be Sober in the Morning: Great Political Comebacks, Putdowns & Ripostes.

Actor Robert Redford has been fighting on behalf of the environment for over 30 years. Most recently, he has teamed up with Youth Speaks, a youth development organization that uses spoken word to create global change. Redford and two slam poet participants of Youth Speaks will join us in our second hour to talk about environmental activism. Following that, White House press secretary Dana Perino remembers Tony Snow, whom she succeeded in 2007.

Enjoy the program today!

Wally Amos, with his famous watermelon hat.

Source: Wendy Kurtz

Last week, we did an ender on how to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and listeners called in to divulge their best, most surprising baking secrets. I screened the calls during the segment, and I remember one caller from Louisville, KT, said he uses mayonnaise as a greasy substitute for butter in his cookie recipe. I was grossed out, but he insisted his secret ingredient magnifies the delectability factor 10 fold. Still, I don't know if I have the guts to try it. I also got a call from a gentleman who said he was Wally Amos, of Famous Amos fame. At first, I thought it was a crank call -- I mean, who would've believed Mr. Famous Amos himself, founder of the cookie brand I know and love so well (a little too well, actually), would call into our show?! So I put him on hold as we tried to verify, via Wiki, that he was, in fact, who he said he was. By the time we figured it out, we had run out of time in the segment, and it was too late to get him on.

I called Wally the next day to book him for a follow-up interview. He was in the middle of reading aloud to a group of kids in his home town, Kailua, Hawaii, also where his new cookie store, Chip & Cookie, is located. He put them on speaker phone and they all yelled out, "Aloha, Ashley." It was frickin' adorable.

Then fast forward to our letter segment yesterday: Wally joined us for a quick hit to tell us his secret ingredient. Turns out, Lennon had it right all along -- all you need is love. Wally elaborates:

I talk to my cookies... When they're in there baking, I tell them, 'Come on, guys, ... I want you to get nice and brown and just beautiful. And you're gonna taste so good.' And they feel it, they respond to it... The cookies are so happy because they feel that love, and they just want to pass it on to others.

Do you talk to your treats as you bake them? What do you say? And do they talk back?

Chances are that you have, or someone you know has, asked this question: "Have you seen The New Yorker this week?" Even if you don't subscribe to the magazine, or read it regularly, you've probably seen its most-recent cover, drawn by Barry Blitt.

If you've just emerged from the wilderness, this is what it looks like:

"The Politics of Fear"

Courtesy of The New Yorker

 

Some critics have suggested that the illustration will reinforce untrue rumors, circulating on the Internet. They've said that any humor, satire, or tongue-in-cheek-ness will go over the heads of Americans who don't live in the five boroughs. Others have said that it's stupid. That it isn't funny.

The editor of The New Yorker, David Remnick, released this statement:

Our cover "The Politics of Fear" combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are. The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall -- all of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover. The reader of the same issue will also see that inside there are two very serious articles on Barack Obama inside -- Hendrik Hertzberg's Comment, "The Flip Flop Flap," and Ryan Lizza's 15,000-word reporting piece on the candidate's political education and rise in Chicago.

And yesterday, in an interview with Michele Norris, on NPR's All Things Considered, he said that "this notion, that only, you know, Upper Westside Manhattan elitists can get satire. I don't think that's the case at all."

What do you think of the cover? Is it funny? Should The New Yorker have run it? Do you think that it will hurt Obama's candidacy?

Nelson Mandela at the Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture on July 12, 2008 in Soweto, Johannesburg.

Lionel Healing/AFP/Getty Images

 

No doubt, we could all stand to learn a thing or two from former South African president Nelson Mandela. His biographer, Richard Stengel, recently visited the leader he calls "the closest thing the world has to a secular saint" in Johannesburg, where they talked about leadership. Together, they came up with Mandela's "8 Lessons of Leadership," a list designed "to cause the best kind of trouble: the trouble that forces us to ask how we can make the world a better place." Here's one to get you started: "Courage is not the absence of fear -- it's inspiring others to move beyond it." What have you learned from Mandela? And which of his lessons do you most hope today's political candidates will take to heart?

The trouble with participatory journalism is that you have to... er.... participate. Witness Emily Yoffe and the beauty pageant. Or Bill Buford and, er, the pig in the elevator. (Yes, you should read that book. Right now.) It's even tougher when your subject is... THE NFL. Wall Street Journal reporter Stefen Fatsis took on the gridiron -- which is just as terrifying as it sounds. But contrary to what you may have thought -- he came away with both bruises AND wisdom; ala the great Paper Lion. Questions? Post 'em here.

All aboard the Sunset Limited.

Source: mokolabs

The romance of the rails is about as long-standing a cliche as you can find, but in these days of mass moonings and fare hikes, Amtrak's lost a little of its luster. There are encouraging signs of a turnaround, however, and travel writer Catherine Watson decided to give train travel a go. Onboard she found more than just train buffs and scenic vistas: travel instead of mere transportation. I vividly remember when a trip on an airplane felt like an event -- my sister and I had "airplane dresses," because air travel was an occasion to dress up for. And sometimes when I take the Metro to the end of the line, I squint my eyes on the above-ground portions of the trip and pretend I'm traveling, not commuting. Watson truly traveled, from Minnesota to New Mexico, by way of three lines, the Empire Builder, the City of New Orleans, and the Sunset Limited. She didn't get to New Mexico quickly -- or inexpensively -- but she arrived at her destination having fully enjoyed the ride. When was the last time you could say that?

If you've seen the cover of this week's New Yorker magazine that displays cartoon images of Senator Barack Obama as a Muslim, his wife in fatigues, and an American flag burning in the background, you probably aren't too surprised about the controversy surrounding it. The magazine has issued a statement saying satire is part of its business and is "meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd." But is that really the way it's seen by the public? In our first hour, we want to hear from you. How do you view political satire? Next, the managing editor for Time magazine talks about his cover story on the wisdom and eight lessons of leadership of Nelson Mandela. And at the very end of the hour, Wally Amos, founder of the "Famous Amos" chocolate chip cookie, will reveal his secret ingredient. Have your measuring cups ready!!

In our second hour, sports journalist Stefan Fatsis talks about realizing his dream of playing for the NFL when, at 43 years old, he suited up as a kicker for the Denver Broncos. Fatsis will talk about how he trained to make the team, what he learned about the NFL, and his new book, A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays the NFL. Following that, author Catherine Watson explains why the rise in gas and airline prices may be cause to fall back in love with the railroad.

President Bush approaching the Rose Garden on Monday, July 14, 2008.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

 

If you flip on your radio right now, you just might hear Neal chatting with NPR's Ron Elving and Uri Berliner about the economy. No, your watch hasn't stopped... We're awaiting a press conference with the president. So tune in and listen up... This lame-duck leader probably doesn't have too many of these left to give.

John Ramsey after the graveside service of his wife Patsy Ramsey in 2006.

Barry Williams/Getty Images

"Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?"

That's the famous question former Labor secretary Raymond Donovan asked on May 25, 1987, after being acquitted of fraud charges. And I'm sure that many who have been falsely accused, imprisoned, or even acquitted, have asked the same thing.

John and Patsy Ramsey were only cleared of wrongdoing in the murder of their daughter, JonBenet, twelve years after her death -- and two after Patsy herself died, of ovarian cancer.

From rape and murder, all the way to plagiarism or fraud, there are some accusations that are punishments in and of themselves --- whether you did the crime, or not. "You can't," as one defense attorney told me today on the phone, "un-ring that bell." The question is -- can you ever rebuild your life after you've suffered a false accusation?

Last week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson uttered what surely will become one of the most memorable -- and crudest -- comments of the 2008 campaign. (See above.)

Eric Easter, writing on EbonyJet.com, says that "it's not just what you say, it's where, how, when and to whom that matters as well." It highlights what some see as a growing disconnect between Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and several prominent African Americans, who argue that he is moving to the center and catering to white voters too much.

How did you react to Jackson's comments? Do you agree with the sentiment behind them?

I only visited our great nation's capital once before I moved here to become a serious and important journalist. (ha) It was for a family vacation in the dead of August. My mom, an AP history teacher, wanted to see the places she taught about firsthand. I can remember our visit to Arlington National Cemetery. The air was thick and dripping with humidity. I was cranky, to see the least. As fortune would have it, we arrived right as the Changing of the Guard was about to commence. I remember the precision and utter seriousness with which the elaborate ritual was carried out. And I had to fight the urge to yell out something silly to make the guards smile, as is fashionable at Buckingham Palace.

Well, turns out, the Changing of the Guards is about as much a ceremony as the public has access to, unless you're a relative of the war dead. Last week, Dana Milbank, National Political Reporter for The Washington Post, published an article about how the government is limiting media coverage of funerals of the war dead at Arlington Cemetery, even after families consent to coverage. Gina Gray, former Public Affairs Director for the Cemetery, publicly opposed the Pentagon's limitations. She was demoted, then fired -- she believes, as retaliation. And, now, military authorities are examining her termination. Dana and Gina join us today to give us the story.

If you have questions about media access to military funerals, or if you and your family have been through the experience, tell us your story.

Why should you care about the fiscal health of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae?

Even after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's announcement last night that the federal government is here to help, I still wasn't sure why, exactly, I should care. Well, these two "quasi-governmental" organizations were created by Congress to help make it easier to get home loans. They now back or insure more than five trillion dollars in mortgages. The mortgages are often bundled in mortgage-backed securities, which are sold on Wall Street. These securities are guaranteed -- if a homeowner defaults on a loan, the Mac or the Mae pays it, and the investor doesn't suffer. But now, with foreclosures surging, they face the possibility of having to pay out more than they have in reserves.

So, IF Frannie&Freddie went under, it could cripple the credit markets and wreak havoc on the housing market, in which few would ever be able to get a home loan. So... If need be, the government will step in. Do you care yet? Here's another reason: This is a weird situation -- if the securities are doing well, making money, investors receive dividends... but if they aren't, taxpayers make up the difference in the form of the government bailout. Huh? Exactly.

Leave your questions for our panel of Mac-n-Mae experts here.

Neal Conan is back in the host's chair, and here is a quick look at what's happening on today's show:

The U.S. government has pledged to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an attempt to bolster eroding confidence in the nation's largest mortgage finance companies. In our first hour we'll talk to Dean Foust, Atlanta bureau chief for Business Week, and Gretchen Morgenson, business columnist for The New York Times, about the bailout what the government's plan means for the housing market. At the end of the hour, Eric Easter, editor-in- chief of ebonyjet.com explains why Barack Obama should learn from Jesse Jackson that it's not just what you say, but where, when and to whom you say it that matters as well. Easter's op-ed is entitled "What Jesse Jackson Said."

Although authorities in Colorado have ruled out the Ramsey family as suspects in the murder of their 6-year-old daughter JonBenet, John Ramsey has been quoted as saying that "no matter what, some people will always believe that [he's] responsible for the death of his daughter..." When someone is falsely accused, how do he get his reputation back? In our second hour, we'll talk about clearing your name. Following that, we'll talk to Gina Gray, a former public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery. Gray will explain how her efforts to restore media coverage of military funerals at the cemetery recently got her fired.

Tom Dickson, the founder of Blendtec, has developed a cult following. He stars in a viral marketing campaign, a series of videos in which he asks, "Will it blend?" (To date, hundreds of thousands of people have watched them.) To demonstrate the efficacy of his brand of home and commercial blenders, he has pledged to put almost anything in them.

A copy of Grand Theft Auto IV? Blended. Reduced to shiny shards. A can of pork and beans? Blended. A baseball? He blended that too.

So, what's the point? Who cares if his blender can destroy a disc? Or 53 toy cars? It's entertaining!

The whole campaign reminds me of those ads for Ginsu knives. "In Japan, the hand can be used like a knife. But this method doesn't work with a tomato..."

"The Ginsu can cut a slice of bread so thin you can almost see through it!"

"The Ginsu is so sharp it can cut through a tin can!"

Check out Dickson's latest installment: "Will [the iPhone 3G] blend?"

Hollywood has made no shortage of movies about the war in Iraq over the past couple of years. We've seen apolitical films about 9/11 and its aftermath, like United 93 and World Trade Center, as well as more overtly political films about service in the military, like In the Valley of Elah and Redacted. Ever wonder how accurate and authentic these films really are? Enter Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale. He's the Army's liaison to Hollywood* -- he helps decide which movies should get Army help, such as access to bases and equipment,... and which shouldn't. And that's where the conflict lies. Fingers fly every which way... Censorship! Spin! Bias! Pentagon correspondent for the LA Times, Julian Barnes, parses it out in an article titled, "The Iraq war movie: Military hopes to shape genre." Breasseale and Barnes join us to give us an inside look at how war movies get made. We'll also talk to film critic Christopher Orr about why most Iraq war movies tank at the box office (ahem, Lions for Lambs).

* I want that job.

C is for Cookie! But whose recipe is good enough for you? Around my house, my chocolate chip cookies are in high demand at Christmas time. They're a little different every time -- I prefer them puffy and pretty, as a baker, but my family loves the flat ones that get all crispy around the edges. I know I'll probably get the former with extra flour, and the latter with ten tons of butter, but there's actually a lot of science determining how my dozens turn out. So how do you like your cookies? Ashley's an extra-salt-easy-on-the-chips girl, and me, I have yet to meet one I didn't like. What's your secret for the perfect batch every time?

The debate over illegal immigrants isn't just an American issue. In Italy, the government was voted into power on a platform of promises to crack down on illegal immigrants; a group many say is associated with criminal activity. This week, Italian authorities began a program to fingerprint every Roma Gypsy in the country. The European Union passed a non-binding resolution calling on Rome to stop the program, but authorities have no plans to do so. Across the Continent in Ukraine, a new report from Amnesty International cites an "alarming rise" in the number of racially motivated attacks. The group says four people have died there this year, and more than 60 have been targeted in racial attacks. Swiss citizens will soon vote on a plan to ban the construction of Muslim minarets. And members of the European Union have agreed, in principle, to expel illegal immigrants from European soil by 2012. We'll talk with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli in Rome today, about what she has seen in Italy and throughout Europe. If you live in Europe, or have been recently, have seen any signs of a growing xenophobia?

A so-called "Muhajababe"-- a young woman who wears a headscarf, but dresses in otherwise "normal" clothing.

Courtesy of Mark Levine

Musician and college professor Mark LeVine spent the past six years jammin' with musicians, and interviewing fans and performers alike at heavy metal concerts all around the Middle East and North Africa. He found kids in Morocco morockin' (ha) with goth make-up and kilts; twentysomethings in Iran with metal shirts and long hair; and Saudi women in hijabs head-banging to their favorite songs. For many of them, playing and listening to heavy metal represents a sort of autonomy, a way of being free, in countries that put limits on artistic expression. Others are weary of defining the music as a subversive, political statement, and simply enjoy the sounds and lyrics of bands like Iron Maiden.

He wrote about the experiences in a book called Heavy Metal Islam. Heavy metal, and Islam -- huh? That's what I thought, too. Well, try this one: the most popular heavy metal band in the Muslim world, Orphaned Land, is Israeli -- wha?! Again, I'm with you. But, in the world Mark presents, music has the power to unite.

If you're Muslim and a heavy metal fan, what does the music mean to you? And who's your favorite band?

Last show of the week. Here's what's happening:

In our first hour, we'll talk about the love-hate relationship between Hollywood and the military. Apparently, every branch of the U.S. military has a liaison office in Hollywood, and if a filmmaker chooses to ask for access to bases, or planes, or tanks, the military can have a say-so about movie scripts that center around the war. Among our guests for that discussion will be Julian Barnes, a Pentagon correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and author of the article, "The Iraq war movie: Military hopes to shape genre". Have you seen any Iraq war movies? Did they seem believable? At the end of the hour, we will spare your hard earned summer body and talk, just TALK, about the perfect chocolate chip cookie. A food scientist will tell us how to build a better chocolate chip cookie and we'll find out from you what your baking secrets are for the King of the Cookie.

*Disclaimer: Talk of the Nation is not responsible for any trips made to your nearest bakery and any subsequent pounds put on any body parts following this broadcast.

Italy's anti-immigrant interior minister has launched a program to fingerprint its ethnic Roma Gypsy residents as a measure to crack down on street crime. Is this an indication that Europe is becoming more hostile toward immigrants? In our first hour, NPR's Senior Europe Correspondent Sylvia Poggioli will discuss anti-immigrant anxiety in Europe. Following that, Mark Levine, an author, musician and professor of Middle Eastern History, will talk about the young generation of heavy metal fans in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Like underpants for your feet.

Beauty Addict

The most-emailed list on any site is a clue to... something. Popularity? Buzz? Laziness? For awhile, this entry about flip-flop feet health on the New York Times Well blog dominated most emailed lists, much like the flip-flop itself dominates summer footwear. The entry points out that this little piece of rubber and straps isn't exactly supportive, and might cause more pain than good in the long run.

Researchers from Auburn University in Alabama studied the biomechanics of the flip-flop and determined that wearing thong-style flip-flops can result in sore feet, ankles and legs.
"We found that when people walk in flip-flops, they alter their gait, which can result in problems and pain from the foot up into the hips and lower back,'' said Justin Shroyer, a biomechanics doctoral student who presented the findings to the recent annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis.

Okay, first of all, I would love to talk to that guy. Imagine his friends. "What's your research on, dude?" "Flip-flops. What's yours on?" "Khaki shorts." Second of all, I suspect that this got passed around in a giant passive-aggressive wave of anti-flip-flop sentiment -- a flip-flop on flip-flops, if you will. In my experience, you are either a flip-flip wearer or a flip-flop hater. I used to be the former, but honestly, the slap, slap, slap of rubber everywhere is making me into a hater. The relentless foot nudity among people whose feet should probably not be naked (stoners in Denver, I'm talking to you -- pumice it up), has become a source of great irritation. I'm not going to lie; I own forty pairs, and my feet are funny-looking, so this might be the foot calling the stoner callused, or whatever. The good news is, I'm slowly growing out of the temptation to throw thongs on and run out the door -- and if you wear a size seven in Reef sandals, check out ebay. There are thirty five pairs of flip-flops about to go on sale. (I have to keep some.)

9 million more cars hit China's roads every year.

Photo by China Photos/Getty Images

Anytime Ted Koppel decides to take on a project, you can bet it will be good. Tonight on the Discovery Channel, you can see the first of a four-part series on China, the "People's Republic of Capitalism." A major storyline in the series is China's fascination with, and growing embrace of, cars. With more people than any other country on Earth, the implications of hundreds of millions of Chinese turning in their bicycles for BMWs are huge... environmentally, economically, even politically. As we have on Wednesdays past, we are broadcasting from the Newseum here in Washington today. But, there's something different about this show: Ted Koppel is filling in while Neal's on vacation. Ted (can I call him Ted? Maybe Mr. Koppel?) spent months filming and traveling in China for his latest report, and will now talk about the coming collision between the United States and China. Is there anything we can do to stop it? What do you plan to do to prepare?

After our morning meeting today, Ken Rudin, NPR's political editor, confided in me.

"I think this is going to be good for Ted [Koppel]," he said. "Appearing with me, the Political Junkie... Doing the trivia question... I think it's going to be good for his career."

Only time can tell.

It has been a busy week in politics. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced that he plans to accept his party's nomination for president at Mile High Stadium, which seats some 75,000 people. (The Pepsi Center, just across a field of parking lots, where the rest of the Democratic National Convention will take place, can only accomodate a paltry 20,000.) Obama's rival, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), unveiled a new commercial. Were you wondering where he was in 1968, during the so-called "Summer of Love"?

Another campaign ad has caused a stir. A group of Democratic voters has produced a new spot, demanding that the party's Senate leadership strip Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) of his rank and committee leadership positions. They also have a petition with some 40,000 signatures.

On yesterday's show, Guy Raz asked former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) if he would accept an invitation to be Obama's running mate. He indicated that he would. Earlier this week, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), said that he wasn't interested.

Although the segment will be shorter than usual, we want to hear from as many of you as we can. If you have a question for the Political Junkie, leave it here.

In 2006, war correspondent and former Nightline executive producer Leroy Sievers was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. He writes about the challenges and triumphs of battling the disease on his blog, My Cancer, and it's proven to be a source of comfort for many other cancer survivors. At last count, more than 30,000 comments had been posted to the site.

Leroy discusses everything from the physical realities of the disease -- "Your arms or your legs are missing that last little 'oomph' that will put you on your feet and up on the walker." -- to the difficulty friends and family members have talking about it -- "The best conversations I have these days are about something, anything else. Politics, sports, books, whatever. If cancer is not in the room for even an hour or two, that's a gift."

We'll also have a personal and candid conversation with Elizabeth Edwards about her struggle with breast cancer.

If you're a cancer survivor, tell us about your experience living with the disease.

Today we broadcast live from the Newseum, and when the show starts, you will hear the familiar voice of Ted Koppel, former host of ABC's Nightline. We're pleased to have him in the host's chair today. Here's a brief rundown of what's coming up on our program:

In about fifteen years, China will have as many cars on its highway system as America does. So what happens when China outbids us for energy? At the beginning of the first hour, we'll talk with Nicholas Lardy, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, for answers on what it will mean for the United States when the people of China make the switch from bicycles to automobiles. At the end of the hour, NPR's Ken Rudin will join us for a bite-sized political junkie and a look at the news in politics, including Barack Obama's venue change for his acceptance speech and possible running mates for Senator Obama and Senator John McCain. And of course get ready for this week's trivia question.

Journalist Leroy Sievers began writing about living with cancer shortly after he was diagnosed. For the past two years, he has been keeping a daily diary on his blog "My Cancer." Sievers will join us for our entire second hour, along with Elizabeth Edwards, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 for a personal and candid conversation about the challenges and triumphs of battling the disease.

The zoom on my camera's pretty weak -- I was really this close to the 2007 Tour de France.

Sarah Handel

 

Last year I had the distinct pleasure of watching a leg of the Tour de France from the grassy hill beside the route. It was incredible -- it would have taken nothing but a lot of gall for me to reach out and touch the riders as they labored by (we were positioned on a pretty amazing incline by design -- we could watch the riders winding up the hill toward us, and they passed us at a slow enough pace that we could see every sponsor on their jerseys). No such luck for me this year, but Google Maps is doing something pretty incredible -- street level views of the entire 2008 route. They're blurring faces and license plates, but other than that, it's almost like being there. Too cool.

??? (Rest assured. Guy will ask.)

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

 

It would be unfair to say that former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) didn't get much traction in the Democratic primaries and caucuses. Sure, he usually came in third, behind Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), but parts of his platform, about domestic issues, especially, did resonate with Democratic voters. Many millions of them.

Edwards focused his attention on the economy and poverty. He launched -- and finished -- his campaign in New Orleans.

When Edwards stepped aside to let Obama and Clinton fight for the nomination, he told his supporters that his former opponents promised him "that they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency."

"And more importantly, they have pledged to me that as President of the United States they will make ending poverty and economic inequality central to their Presidency," he continued. "This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage in this cause. "

Now that Obama is the presumptive Democratic party's nominee for president, some pundits speculate that Edwards could be his running mate. He'll join us today, in the first hour of our program, to talk about the potential for an Obama/Edwards ticket. And to address many of the issues that compelled him to run for the Democratic nomination in the first place.

Did you support Edwards? What did you like about his platform? If you're a Democrat, has Obama kept his pledge to Edwards, to "make ending poverty central to [his] campaign for the presidency"? Should Obama ask Edwards to be his VP? To be his attorney general?

I can just guess what the help-wanted ad looked like for the new head of the trade group representing the oil and gas industry. With gas prices at new records and people fuming about record profits at many oil companies, serving as spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute will take some seriously thick skin. Fortunately, Jack Gerard, the man named to fill the post come November knows a thing or two about representing industries that many people love to hate... mining and chemicals among them. So, how will he sell the oil and gas industry on Americans, and to congress? We'll ask him. And this is your first chance to talk with the future head of the oil and gas industry in America... leave your comments here.

Presidential hopeful John McCain.

Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

If he wins the election this November, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), at 72, will be the oldest President in history to take his first oath of office. Some say that's too old, while others say it's just a number. When I think about it, I know a lot of grandparents, in their 60s, 70s and 80s, who are spry and completely able-minded -- even more so than I am at 24! With all the modern advancements in medicine and nutrition, 72 isn't as old as it used to be.

We've heard a lot about racism and sexism in this campaign. But is McCain breaking barriers against ageism? What's your opinion -- how old is too old to be President?

Is anything worth keeping anymore?

Source: svenwork

This is going to sound incredibly geeky, but I'm sorry, I want to know: What's your relationship with books?

In my family, they've always been little treasures, whether they're wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree or lined up in long rows of shelving in the living room. I've always been surrounded by books and taught to treat them with reverence: no dog-earing the pages, don't break the spine, and certainly don't write in the margins. To me, the object carries meaning that often outweighs its physical heft.

Sadly, Jonathan Karp, a publisher, says we have entered "the age of the disposable book." He's got a point -- here at NPR we receive bazillions of books every day. Seriously. Bazillions. And the redundancy, quick-turnaround, and shallowness of many of the titles boggles the mind.

Publishers push books out hoping for a hit, but in this morass of media, it's a miracle anything unusual rises to the top (To wit: The New York Times hardcover fiction bestsellers list right now features Janet Evanovich, James Patterson, and Danielle Steel. Powerhouses!). According to Karp (couldn't resist), however, there's hope: "the lasting books will, ultimately, be where the money is." Here's hoping. And, in the meantime, I'm holding onto my collection of "lasting books."

In today's first hour, guest host Guy Raz will speak with former Senator John Edwards about what went right and wrong in his campaign for president, his plan to cut poverty in half by 2018, and whether or not, if asked, he would accept the democratic party's nomination for vice president. Following that, we'll be joined by Jack Gerard, the president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council. In a few months, Gerard will serve as president of the American Petroleum Institute. Call or email us your questions or concerns about the current state of the oil and gas industry. At the end of the hour, we'll read from your emails and blog comments about black patriotism, and the physical demands involved in fighting wildfires.

If Sen. John McCain wins the presidential election, he will be 72 years old when he is sworn in next January. That will make him the oldest president in history. But does that matter? Charles Blow, a columnist for the New York Times thinks so. He'll be one of the guests in our second hour. Tell us what you think. When it comes to electing a president, how old is TOO old? At the end of the hour, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Twelve explains why he calls the times we're living in "the age of the disposable book" and believes most books will inevitably wind up in the bargain bin.

You can take us anywhere!

Source: iStockphoto

Hey hey, remember this guy? Clark and the Griswolds took Europe, and left the continent aghast at the American tourist. Americans have long had this Griswoldesque reputation -- as tourists, we're well meaning, but, well, obnoxious. But not anymore! According to a new survey, those fabulous French have surpassed us! (So have the Chinese and the Indians, incidentally.) I know from personal experience that the stereotypes about the French that exist here in the States are at least as unflattering as "the ugly American," and while I don't agree (I adore France), it seems that even on their own continent, the French are now viewed as "impolite, prone to loud carping and inattentive to local customs... often unwilling or unable to communicate in foreign languages, and particularly disinclined to spend money when they don't have to." Yikes! If they'd like to turn things around, perhaps they should take some lessons from the Americans, who are now perceived as "trying to speak local languages the most," and who spend big and tip well. Well how about that! It's nice to know my horribly-accented "un pamplemousse, sil vous plait" didn't go unappreciated.

You might move to a new neighborhood for the schools, or the commute, maybe the taxes. Turns out a whole lot of us also move to be around people who think and act and believe like we do. Bill Bishop calls it the "big sort," and he says it's tearing the country apart. "This is the untold story of why America is so culturally and politically divided."

Here's the basic hypothesis: Americans are more mobile than ever, and have more choices in where to live, and who to live near. And we now have communities based on age, political views, and religion. All this "way-of-life segregation" has its consequences, argues Bill Bishop... The country is so polarized and "ideologically inbred that people don't know and can't understand those who live just a few miles away."

Are you a part of this big sort? What choices have you made to be around people who are more like you?

For years, I lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a few miles from UNC, the University of North Carolina, which former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) once called, "the University of Negroes and Communists."

Helms, who died on Friday, didn't have many supporters in my hometown. Fans? Forget about it. When North Carolina politicians decided to build a state zoo, Helms questioned the expenditure. Couldn't we just build a fence around Chapel Hill?, he asked.

His loyal base lived in towns like Hobgood, Macclesfield, and Lucama, in eastern North Carolina. (Many of his supporters were farmers, of tobacco and hogs, especially.) Helms was, he said, one of them: a member of North Carolina's working class, raised to believe that homosexuality was deplorable, abortion was unconscionable, and communism had to be defeated. His critics argued that he was deplorable, bigoted and racist.

In 1990, Helms ran for reelection against Harvey Gantt, a Charlotte architect-turned-mayor. Down in the polls, Helms made this commercial:

It is an ad that no North Carolinian, Helms supporter or not, can forget.

John Fund, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, calls Helms "the uncompromisingly defiant exemplar of [modern conservatism]." Do you agree? If you live -- or lived -- in North Carolina, did you vote for Helms? What made him so electable?

Increasingly, I've been feeling neurologically inept. Wait, let me rephrase -- I'm jealous that I'm not as neurologically fascinating as some of my more neurotic counterparts. I don't turn the light switch off and on a bundle of times before I leave my apartment like some of the OCDers. My mind doesn't move like the speed of light to accommodate 10 different thoughts at once, as with the ADHD folks. And the closest I've come to agoraphobia was a weekend marathon of Felicity episodes. I wish I was more like Bob Wiley in What about Bob? -- his multiphobic personality made him tres entertaining: "What if I'm looking for a bathroom, I can't find one, and my bladder explodes?" If I had to limit myself to one condition, I'd pick Munchausen syndrome 'cause it's all about fakin' it for attention, and, as we all know, I love to be the center of attention. But the real neurological gem, in my opinion, is hypochondria. Jennifer Traig is a self-diagnosed hypochondriac and author of the book Well Enough Alone: A Cultural History of My Hypochondria. In her words, "Hypochondria is a disease of fictions, of symptoms that seem so real but lie." At one point or another, she was convinced she had everything from Hodgkin's disease and lupus to diabetes and muscular dystrophy. She joins us today to take us inside the mind of a hypochondriac. If you're a hypochondriac, what's it like for you? Like Jennifer, do you have a "favorite" illness? And has the stigma surrounding hypochondria dwindled at all?

Like so many, I'm sure, R2 was my first robot. As a kid (and even now!), I loved his adorable bleeps and bloops, his calm blue lights, and the funny burbles he made when displeased. I think the only other robot that caught my eye was more of a machine than a robot -- the crayon-making machine featured on one episode of Sesame Street*. It made crayons! What could be cuter? Now that I think about it, I also sort of felt like Doozers were robots, too. My sister and I had wind-up ones, which may be part of the reason. Anyway, I was a little confused about what a robot was, and maybe that's because I didn't have the wealth of examples kids -- and adults -- have these days. Today's robot is WALL-E, star of the popular new Pixar film. The Boston Globe's Matthew Battles gets to the bottom of what makes this robot -- and others -- so darn huggable!

*Side note -- the crayon song is amazing! Has anyone remixed it? I'm sort of surprised it hasn't turned up in a Wes Anderson film...

NPR's Guy Raz is keeping the host's chair warm for us for most of this week. Neal Conan will be back next Monday. And here is what's happening today:

In our first hour, we'll talk about a phenomenon that our guest Bill Bishop calls "the big sort." Bishop is the author of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart and he will explain how the red and blue states that divide our country also divide our country's neighborhoods. Has that been your experience? Do the people in your community share your lifestyle and political views? And on our opinion page this week, John Fund, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, remembers the legacy and politics of the late former senator Jesse Helms.

Not too long ago, I blogged about my experience with going to doctor and declaring that a red spot on my leg indicated that I have meningitis, just like the nuns on last week's episode of E.R. Turns out my red spot was merely a rash, but my hypochondria is something that could be taken a little more seriously. Jennifer Traig knows a thing or two about hypochrondria. The good news is she doesn't actually have heart disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis or any other condition she's diagnosed herself with. Her memoir is called Well Enough Alone and Traig will be our guest in our second hour. At the end of the hour, we'll find out from Boston Globe contributor Matthew Battles why robots are so, so lovable.

Maybe the balloon is happy because it's cheaper than a gallon of gas?

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

There's a fast food restaurant in San Antonio that's found a creative way to capitalize on the high gas prices... With some clever marketing. The San Antonio Express-News reports:

As summer turns our pores into water spouts, the only thing climbing faster than the temperature is the price of gasoline - $3.75 one week, $3.89 the next, who knows what the next. In San Antonio, a fast-food restaurant proclaims on its sign: "FILL YOUR TUMMY FOR LESS THAN A GAL OF GAS."

And come on, with gas prices what they are you can do a whole lot better than a fast food joint and STILL fill your tummy for less than your tank.

Could this be a new cliche in the making? You might say something is "light as a feather" or "big as a whale," but what sorts of things do you shop for that now might be "cheaper than a tank of gas?"

US Forest Service firefighters from the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles, California.

David McNew/Getty Images

 

At this point, tens of thousands of acres have burned in California, and more than 19,000 people are fighting the flames. Yesterday, the town of Big Sur was given a mandatory evacuation order, as one of the many wildfires moved closer to the city. While most news reports focus on acres burned, homes and buildings lost, and people uprooted, today we'll get the other side of story. We'll talk with firefighters who battle forest fires, from the ground and the air, and find out what it's like to battle the flames face-to-face. If you're a firefighter, what's your experience?

Same Moon, different machine.

Source: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

After the outstanding series on NASA missions that ran last month (they got Neil Armstrong!) "In the Shadow of the Moon", The Discovery Channel starts a new six-part series next week, called "Moon Machines." The second episode, which airs Tuesday night (7/8), focuses on the guidance computer NASA engineers developed and installed aboard both the Command capsule, and the LEM, the vehicle that actually landed on the moon. It's based on a book called, Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight, written by David Mindell, a professor who specializes in the history of technology at MIT. As he notes in the book, the relationship between man and machine is not a new story -- he cites the mythical John Henry, who won his battle with a steam drill at the cost of his life, and Charles Lindbergh, who used the word "we" to describe his partnership with his aircraft. In the 1960s, even as they incorporated the then exotic technology of integrated circuits and software, a word almost unknown as the project began, they had to figure out how these new machines would be used by the astronaut/pilots. The "man-machine" system they adopted kept the astronaut "in the loop", visibly and overtly in command, partly as the result of politics, partly to respect the professional dignity of the pilots and partly because there are times when there is no substitute for human judgment. Though the computer was programmed to land the LEM, every pilot who descended to the surface of the Moon, starting with Neil Armstrong, turned the automatic system off, and landed on manual. As we see ever more capable technology, including cruise missiles and the drones now widely used for military reconnaissance, it's a discussion that continues today.

In Prince George's County, Maryland, a teenager, 19 year old Ronnie White, was brought into custody by local police Saturday evening on the suspicion that he was behind the wheel of the stolen pickup truck that struck and killed PG County officer Cpl. Richard S. Findley. Officers booked him, then put him in solitary confinement. The next morning, Ronnie White was found dead in his cell of strangulation and asphyxiation. It's a horrendous story on all sides -- a slain officer, a tragic death -- and suspicion of wrongdoing at the prison runs rampant. I was listening to a call-in hip-hop show on WPFW last night, and hosts DJ Tru and Noodles spent the whole hour taking calls on the White case. Most callers were up in arms about it, and one in particular stuck out: A woman from Ethiopia, who recently became an American citizen, was so incensed that she threatened to turn in her American passport if justice isn't served in this case. Of course, this could be a bit of emotional hyperbole, but her explanation was even more interesting: She didn't know how to explain it to her people back in Ethiopia, that she'd moved to this great democratic country and still this tragedy was allowed to happen. It's still unclear who's to blame, and how it will be handled. Do you jump to conclusions when you hear a story like this? What are the assumptions that you make? Would it change how you feel about the case if White was, in fact, guilty of murder?

Robert Frost, circa 1960.

Source: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Think twice about throwing a party in that abandoned farmhouse down the road... you might end up in poetry class. In Ripton, Vermont, a bunch of teenagers threw a rager at Homer Noble Farm, site of an unheated farmhouse on a dead-end road. Sounds like a typical teenage stunt, right? Atypically, the farmhouse, now owned by Middlebury College, is where Robert Frost spent his summers for more than two decades. So, yeah. It's kind of special. The kids (and a few adults) trashed the place -- destroyed antique furniture and china, carpets stained with puke and urine -- and 28 ended up charged with trespassing. Most of them entered pleas, trading their sentences for a combination of fines, community service, and poetry classes. Apparently, prosecutor John Quinn believes in (wait for it... wait for it...) poetic justice. Frost biographer and Middlebury professor Jay Parini agreed to teach the vandals two lessons on Frost's poetry, and made it relevant to the illicit revelers. Today, he joins us to tell us exactly how he did that.

George T. Stagg, aka the really good stuff.

Source: mgaffney

Ok that's a bit of a misnomer, to be sure, but seriously, it seems there's at least one industry that's not in the tank: the bourbon industry. Obviously, this pleases me. According to the article, the company that makes Evan Williams and Elijah Craig "recently spent nearly $4 million boosting capacity 50 percent at its distillery in Louisville." Not impressed yet? Wild Turkey's "$36 million expansion near Lawrenceburg will nearly double its production" (mmmm, Russell's Reserve!). You want more? Maker's Mark is expanding for the second time, and my go-to Jim Beam "is in the midst of a $70 million expansion in Kentucky." Heck yes. Here's to many more raised glasses of bourbon.

Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) traveled to Unity, New Hampshire to emphasize (read: "hammer home") their admiration for, and support of, each other. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is in Colombia, where he promises not to talk about the campaign. At all. And Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.) questioned the relevance of a candidate's military experience. Or lack thereof.

Our Political Junkie, Ken Rudin, will join us at the Newseum, to talk about the continuing campaign. And we'll hear from Michael Gerson -- once a speech writer for President Bush, now a columnist. McCain met with the Rev. Billy Graham last week, and Obama has talked a lot about religion lately. We'll ask Gerson about the role religious and evangelical voters will play in this election.

If religion plays a role in how you vote, what do you think of what the candidates have said about faith thus far? What would you like to hear them say?

Tell me this doesn't have all the makings of a made for TV movie... A stranger shows up in a small town, says he's a federal agent riding in to clean up the local drug problem. He makes arrests, busts in doors, knocks heads (ok not literally, but there are reports of physical abuse). Turns out, though, the guy's NOT a federal agent, he's not even a cop. He made the whole thing up for reasons nobody can be quite sure of. But it wasn't the local police or mayor who found him out... It was a local reporter. And she says some people in town are actually disappointed he wasn't true blue -- after all, they say, he was doing a pretty good job. That "job" has left him facing charges, put a chief of police out of a job, and left a whole town asking how something like this could happen in this day and age. We'll talk with Linda Trest, the reporter, on the show today, and find out how she got her scoop, and how this ruse went on so long.

In two days, some of you will wave sparklers and flags like wands, others of you may head to the local park for a thunderous fireworks display, and a few of you may even don an outfit with the red, white and blue. The Fourth of July wells many people with patriotism. But, for some African Americans, patriotism doesn't come so easily. A history of slavery, segregation and racism overshadows and contradicts a sense of patriotism -- loyalty felt to America. Black poet Langston Hughes captured this contradiction in his poetry and writings. The poem "Let American be America Again" is a lyrical criticism of the notion of freedom and the realities of inequality. "There's never been equality for me.. Nor freedom in this 'homeland of the free,'" he writes. And in "I, Too, Sing America" he reminds us that black America is American. Today, we talk about black love of country and why some African Americans struggle with it. If you're black, do you struggle with patriotism?

We're back at the Newseum today, and in our first hour we'll get our weekly dose of the Political Junkie. Today, NPR's Ken Rudin will talk about John McCain's visit to Colombia and Mexico and Barack Obama's upcoming trip to Europe and the Middle East. And Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President Bush, talks about each presidential candidate's appeal to religious and evangelical voters. We'll also be joined by Michael Gerson. He is currently a columnist for The Washington Post, but also served as President George W. Bush's chief speechwriter and senior policy adviser until 2006. And of course you'll get this week's trivia question. No cheating, please. At the end of the hour, Linda Trest, a staff writer with the Gasconade County Republican in Missouri , will talk about how she broke the story of "Sergeant Bill," a man impersonating a federal drug agent and using a fake badge to arrest methamphetamine users.

As the July 4th holiday nears, we'll take a look at black patriotism in America. Loyalty to this country can present a problem for many African Americans. Although the United States has made strides to becoming a more fair nation, there still persists the legacy of slavery, segregation and racial and ethic disparities. In our entire second hour, three African Americans discuss their views on how this country's history has shaped their allegiance to the flag.

To your very good health: Swiss chard.

Source: bucklava

By now you may have caught on that I love lists. They're everywhere -- I know I'm not alone in this -- so here's my favorite one for today: The Best 11 Foods You Aren't Eating.

It seems like every day there's a new list of the superfoods we should all consume daily (I'm a big fan of berries and broccoli and spinach, oh yum!), or news that oh wait, awesome-food-X is actually bad news, or, my favorite, news that a vice is now a virtue! But the cool thing about this particular list, which Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times had Jonny Bowden compile, is that folks often overlook these items when they're thinking of healthy foods. In my oh-so-scientific poll (one person polled: myself) of whether this list is revelatory or just another superfood re-write, I found that actually, I don't consume those 11 foods very often, and of the 11, I'd be perfectly happy to incorporate 9 of them (sorry, sardines and beets. Yuck and double-yuck, according to the poll). So take it from me, list-lover, healthy-food-lover, and poll-taker extraordinaire, if you like such things, this list is worth a peek.

Earlier this week, the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth released On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign, "the US Army's first historical study of its campaign in Iraq in the decisive eighteen months following the overthrow of the Baathist regime in April 2003." The report is candid and critical of senior officers and civilian leaders, and it tries to explain how military decisions contributed to the long, bloody conflict that followed.

During the first hour of the program today, we'll talk with Dr. Donald Wright, a civilian historian at the Combat Studies Institute and an author of On Point II. We'll also hear from three former officers who were interviewed for the report: Col. Douglas MacGregor (Ret.), Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.), and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (Ret.).

Were you in Iraq after the invasion? What do you think went wrong? If you weren't there, what questions do you have about what happened?

In baseball, you generally get an advantage as a right-handed hitter when you face a left-handed pitcher. So, if you're a switch hitter, you pick which side of the batter's box to step into based on which hand the pitcher wears his glove. Simple strategy. But, what to do if both the hitter AND the pitcher can play from either side? A full-time switch pitcher hadn't faced a switch hitter in pro ball in 120 years... until this month. Pat Venditte, an ambidextrous pitcher with the Staten Island Yankees, set-off a comical chain of events in a game on June 19th when he and the batter he faced repeatedly switched sides... Right, left, right, left. The umps called time, met, and decided how the switch-off would end. We'll talk with Venditte on the show today, about the confusion of throwing from both sides, and what it's like to potentially be the first full-time switch pitcher in major leage history.

Adam Nelson, two-time Olympic silver medalist, heads to Beijing this summer.

Source: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

For many athletes, it's a driving goal, a dearest dream, the hoped-for pinnacle of a (young) life's work: the Olympic Games. For most, it's an impossible trip, as injury, expense, the four-year Olympic cycle, and plain old not-good-enough conspire to keep athletes away. For the lucky few, it's life-changing, and for the very lucky (and talented, and hard-working) few, it's a trip they make multiple times. And there, at the very top, you find the medal winners. Today we've got 2008 US Men's Gymnastics Team alternate David Durante, gold medal winning diver and '08 team member Laura Wilkinson, and Adam Nelson, who's won the silver in shot-put twice and heads to Beijing this year for another heave at the gold. They'll tell us all about their successes and failures en route to the dream, and we'd like to hear yours: did you share their dream of Olympic glory? How'd it turn out?

Hunter S. Thompson in 'Gonzo: The Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.'

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

I can think of few subjects for a documentary richer than the legendary Hunter S. Thompson. Journalist. Drug enthusiast. Candidate for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado. Those things come as little or no surprise. But to me, a casual consumer of his work (I read Fear and Loathing, and I'm familiar with the iconic depictions of his world drawn by his friend and collaborator, Ralph Steadman), Alex Gibney's new documentary Gonzo: The Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson filled in the blanks with feeling and nuance. My favorite segment of the film reveals Thompson's Carter awakening -- apparently, Thompson attended a speech given by Jimmy Carter at the University of Georgia Law School in May of 1974. He had no interest in Carter, and repeatedly slipped out to refill his glass of iced tea (read: Wild Turkey) instead of watching the event. And then Carter credited Bob Dylan with changing his understanding about the balance of power between the landowner and those who work on the farm (and thus, the rich and powerful who make the rules, and everyone else), and Thompson was transfixed. He later wrote about the speech, "by the time it was over, it had rung every bell in the room." It's a beautiful sequence. If you'd like, leave your favorite Thompson quotes here.

Here's a quick look at what's coming up today:

Earlier this week, the U.S. Army released its account of what went wrong after the United States invaded Iraq. The seven-hundred page report is called On Point Two: Transition to the New Campaign. In our first hour, we'll talk with a military historian who worked on the project and three officers who were interviewed for it. Following that, we'll talk with Staten Island Yankee pitcher phenom Pat Venditte. He is the only ambidextrous pitcher in major league baseball and may become the first full-time switch pitcher in the pros in 120 years!

Olympic athletes aren't born. They are made. Those vying for a spot on an Olympic team must completely dedicate their lives to becoming world class athletes. But what EXACTLY does it take to reach that level? Three athletes, two who will be at this year's Olympic Games in Beijing and one who just missed the cut, talk about putting their sport first in the hope of bringing home the gold. That will be at the top of the second hour. At the end of that hour, we'll talk to director Alex Gibney about his upcoming movie "Gonzo" that explores the life and work of the late journalist and writer Hunter S. Thompson.

For better or worse, even on vacation, I follow the news.

Just over a week ago, I was on the beach, facing the cold Atlantic, reading the Vineyard Gazette. A headline instantly caught my attention: "One Wild Turkey, Four Gunshots Lead to Three Assault Charges." Here is how the story began:

An aggressive and combative wild turkey was shot and killed by a Chilmark police officer last Sunday after it reportedly attacked two people dropping off rental baby equipment at a home on Old Ridge Hill Road and then briefly held them hostage inside their delivery van.

I read on.

Although the full-grown male turkey met a quick demise after being shot four times by a Chilmark police officer, the drama continues for Chilmark resident Jonathan Haar. He faces criminal charges after he reportedly became enraged after learning the turkey had been killed and attacked the responding officers.

Mr. Haar told police he had fed the turkey, who he had named Tom, since it was an orphaned chick. After learning that Tom had been killed, he reportedly rushed patrolman Jeffrey Day and special officer Matthew Gebo and struck them several times with a closed fist.

It was great fun to follow the story as it developed. As the Gazette's reporter pointed out, the incident became the brunt of many bad jokes: "'Are you serving hot turkey sandwiches today?' asked one diner at a Vineyard Haven eatery Saturday afternoon. 'My wife likes white meat and I like the dark meat, but we'll just take something without gunpowder.'"

Now, back to the grindstone. I have articles about Iraq to read!