What's the Talk of YOUR Nation?

Every morning at 9 o'clock, the TOTN staff gathers 'round to take stock of the day's news. Heaven help the producer who overslept and failed to even catch the headlines... on rare occasion when this happens to me, I feel behind all day. Once we get the major stories covered, we like to dig a little deeper to see what's going on that people are truly talking about at the dinner table, in the morning carpool, and queued up at the grocery store. We have various strategies for it -- our executive producer seems to host and/or attend an immeasurable number of dinner parties stocked with interesting people, which always get the gears in her brain grinding on new topics, whereas I like to go online to check out the local papers in places I used to live, and places where my friends and family still reside. We can't cover the entire country every day, however, which is where you come in. You, our loyal TOTN listeners, literally DO span the country and the globe. So we want to know: What's going on in your town? What is everyone talking about? Maybe you live in Dubuque, Iowa, where the noise levels in the city's only dog park grate on residents' nerves. Or maybe you live in Memphis, where the death of famed photographer and local legend Ernest Withers is the talk of the coffeehouse or barbershop. We want to know about these stories, and even if they seem of limited interest -- geographically, demographically, whatever -- if people are talking about it, there's generally a nugget in there that speaks to a broader human discussion or truth. So tell us: what's the buzz where you live? We want to turn your stories into on-air content, so if you've got links, please send them along...

Sarah Handel

10:06 AM ET | 10-23-2007 | permalink | comments (131) | e-mail post

Jena 6 and the Evolution of a Story

Thousands of protesters are in Jena, Louisiana, this morning. In our second hour, we're going to talk to some of the bloggers and web organizers who publicized the story of the Jena 6 (see our show two weeks ago here), who raised its profile nationally. Where did you first hear about the Jena 6? What blogs have you used to follow the case?

David Gura

11:13 AM ET | 09-20-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

Parents Come up with the Darndest Things

I ask all sorts of odd questions every day around here, but nothing like a 6-year old. Kids may say the darndest things, but they ask even darndest-er (what a wordsmith) things. On Monday's show, we're talking with a dad who decided to find answers to every single question his son asked. Not making them up, but finding people who could give insightful answers. And maybe not the way you'd think... "What is porn?" his son asked... So dad asked a dominatrix. "What happens when a plane flies over a volcano?" Dad went to a pilot who did it. There's plenty more we'll get to on Monday, but we need your help first. All you parents, what questions have your kids stumped you with? On the flip side, did you stump your parents with a tough question or two? Send them to us, and we'll try to get answers for you (and your kids) on Monday afternoon.

Scott Cameron

10:51 AM ET | 08-31-2007 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

Summer Movies: High School Flicks

And now a special message from those who bring you the Summer Movie Series:

This week we are wrapping up the summer movie festival with your favorite high school movies, and for those of you out there who are true TOTN-addicts this may sound familiar... Back in the summer of '05 we asked you for your favorite teen flicks and yes, there is a lot of overlap. But that's no reason for us to play the same old movie clips we did last time! We're asking you guys to think a little harder this time around... what's the difference between a teen movie and a high school movie? Plus, bonus points for anyone who can come up with a high school movie that we didn't mention on the teen movies show!

Ok BOTN-ers, leave your favorites here!

Sarah Handel

9:08 AM ET | 08-14-2007 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

We Want Your Favorite Pop-Star Pics

We've been up to our necks in bio-pic movies this week, and need some help from anyone within earshot (eyeshot?). I'll let TOTN producer Ashley Grashaw fill in the details...

Hey bloggers! It's that time again. Murray Horwitz is back on Thursday for our summer movie festival. This time... pop star bio pictures. We'll go through the highlights and lowlights of the genre, we'll take your favorites, and one lucky movie will be christened the Murray favorite. So tell us, what's your favorite pop star bio pic? The smooth stylings of Ray Charles in Ray? Johnny Cash's search for redemption in Walk the Line? The rockin' grooves of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba? ??? Or something else perhaps? Post it here, and we'll reveal the most popular ones tomorrow on our show!

Scott Cameron

5:34 PM ET | 08- 8-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

Are You Worried?

We spent a lot of time this morning talking about what's going on in London and Glasgow. Things are happening fast: Two more arrests were made today, and it now sounds like police were closing in on the attackers just before they slammed a car into the airport terminal. Here at home, Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, was all over the morning news shows saying the country needs to be more vigilant, but stressing that there is no credible threat to the United States. The federal terror level has not changed, still, ABC News reported today about a secret document, prepared for the Department of Homeland Security, that apparently, "warns that al Qaeda is planning a terror 'spectacular' this summer." And, with the Fourth of July coming on Wednesday, it seems like people are either in a frantic "should I be nervous," or a calming "there's nothing to worry about" mode. With all the talk of attacks, arrests, and summer warnings, do you fall into one group or the other... Should we be nervous, or is this manufactured anxiety?

Scott Cameron

11:02 AM ET | 07- 2-2007 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

Hey, I Phone Too...

The hype over the iPhone is pretty insane at this point. (T-minus a week and a day now.) People are talking about camping out in front of Apple stores and AT&T will close its stores down late in the afternoon, to open them back up at exactly 6pm Friday... just the time the phone is scheduled to be available. (Remember all those holiday stories of fights at Wal Mart over cheap DVD player? So cynical, I know.) And I should confess, I want one, too. I'm just way too cheap to actually buy it at this point. Maybe next year. Anyway, every company and their grand-companies are coming out with new models to compete (whether they can or not is another story). And that's only after the announcements of phones that stream live TV, share videos, track you (your kids, spouses, etc), offer directions, find nearby people to date, play music (duh), surf the web, email, IM, take photos, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure there's a show in here somewhere. I use my phone primarily to talk, occasionally IM, and every now and again to take a picture and shoot it to someone. Of course, it CAN do more, I just tend not to unleash it. So all you cell phone fanatics... what can your phone do? (And do you actually use it?)

Scott Cameron

9:57 AM ET | 06-21-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

A Boy Named Sue

"Barrie? What's that short for?" If I had a dime for every time... well, I could have prolly changed my name to Jennifer. Elementary school was rough (you try being a girl with a boy's name who plays violin). In fact, I spent a torturous couple of weeks in fourth grade trying to prove my name was Ashley -- one of the more glamorous names in 1987. It was a pretty awkward teacher's conference, I can tell you. So, the short story is that I was named after J.M. Barrie, who is most famous for creating the boy (and a few girls) that never grew up (and a great commencement speech). This is, of course, emphatically not a cool namesake in grades 3-10 (give or take), but becomes increasingly handy as you grow up (ironically). Despite what Shakespeare says, names are important to how we define ourselves -- no matter how much mail I get for Mr. Barrie Hardymon. So, tomorrow, we'll be doing a show on names: the oddest first, last, and middles you've got, or have heard. Post 'em here... the ones you like, hate, and whatever your secret baby names are. Any Shilohs, Suris or Dweezils out there?

Barrie Hardymon

9:34 AM ET | 06-13-2007 | permalink | comments (25) | e-mail post

It's Not Easy Being Green

I saw this story the other day... those little manual lawn mowers are making a comeback (you know, the little, usually green, push jobs with rotating blades attached to the wheels). It's one story, so I'm not trying to identify a trend. Buyers say they don't have to worry about gas, or pollution, and they're easy to push, too. I also saw a story out of Los Angeles this morning, where Angelinos hit with a lengthy drought have been asked to take shorter showers. That's in addition to less lawn sprinkling and even less toilet flushing. With gas prices what they are, I've actually been driving less, taking the train more (and reading more newspapers in the process... YES, I recycle them). It seems like every company and all the big cities want to be identified as green, and individuals do, too. I'm curious, is there a bigger story here? Are you doing anything different to be more green... pushing a manual mower, using less water, driving less, that kind of thing? Or, is this a trend that doesn't really exist?

Scott Cameron

11:20 AM ET | 06- 7-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Who's the Boss?

Every couple of weeks I get to trade in my traditional duties and assume the director's chair in 3A. It's a great way to keep my directing skills up to par (it's amazing how much you forget after a month not directing... and then you get called in to direct a last-minute press conference from the Rose Garden and think, "wait a minute, what am I supposed to be doing again?"), but, even better, it's my favorite job at Talk. While it's fun to be the boss*, the best part is that I get to pick out all the music that airs during the program. Not everyone hears our music breaks -- many member stations use that 59 seconds to update listeners on local stories, weather, and traffic -- but picking them out is a time-consuming and creative process (you can see what we play each day on the program page for the day after 6pm, and even listen to clips). Tone is paramount -- you don't want the upbeat Architecture in Helsinki following a story about deaths in Iraq -- but you also want to mix things up, pulling from a variety of genres and artists. As a result, I'm always on the prowl for instrumental music. The best breaks I've run across lately have been from Lost in the Trees and Toumani Diabate. So do you have any suggestions for me? The bare minimum length that's useful for us is 30 seconds, but for some breaks we need as much as 3 minutes... what would you like to hear? And if you're a musician and want to submit music, leave a message in the comments section and I'll be in touch!

*Actually, the incredible engineers at NPR -- these days, our Technical Director Kimberly Jones and engineer Neil Tevault -- don't need me at all. They could drive the show in the dark. But I get to sit in a tall chair and look important, anyway.

Sarah Handel

9:34 AM ET | 05-29-2007 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

Sins of Our Youth

The resignation of the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over a 28 year old sin, got all of us thinking about the sins of our past--not that there are many, y'understand, most of us are perfect and kept our noses clean. But it does raise the question of redemption-- how much, and for how long should one have to pay for old mistakes-- honestly or dishonestly made? Ask Amy's Amy Dickinson will join us, but we're all racking our brains for sins and sinners...so give us some help. We're thinking of folks like Kathleen Soliah (formerly of the Symbionese Liberation Army), or Greg Olsen (a first round draft pick for the Chicago Bears with rap lyrics in his past that would make Imus blush). Who should be forgiven for what? Who's been punished too much...who's not paid an adequate price?

Barrie Hardymon

11:04 AM ET | 05- 9-2007 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

Way Better Than the Cosmo Quiz

We're heading out for Tucson tomorrow, for our Thursday remote broadcast at the University of Arizona's Eller Theater (Arizonans, please come! Tickets here). Our second hour show from Arizona is a collaboration (well, we cribbed it honestly) with the Arizona Daily Star, which asked Tucson area residents to fill out a survey to gauge where they are on issues that may be in the grey area of the moral continuum (sample question: Have you ever served food that fell on the floor? I have to admit, I'm a great fan of the three second rule-- and in my mother's house (squeaky-clean), I'll stretch it to ten seconds.) We'd like to sample Talk of the Nation listeners as well, so, to that end, please fill out this sample quiz. It contains 10 categories, should take about five minutes, and is completely anonymous, so you're the only one who will know if you steal grapes from the supermarket. Then tune in for the results in our second hour on Thursday, April 12th.

Take the Talk of the Nation/Arizona Daily Star Ethics/Morality/Values Quiz!

Barrie Hardymon

10:16 AM ET | 04- 9-2007 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post

Border Stories

What's life like just 60 miles from this border?

Source: marj k

When the show travels, we're essentially traveling to a story. Sometimes we have to dig a little to find the story of a particular city or town, and sometimes the story is so obvious it overwhelms us (as it was when we traveled to New Orleans last May). Tucson's story (and this is not to say, of course, that it's the only story) turns out to be fairly palpable as well, as it's about 60 miles north of Nogales; the only major border crossing point for legal and illegal immigration. So, we're working on a show about immigration, and since we have the opportunity to actually be close to the border, we're going to steer clear of beltway policy talk, and actually ask how this story is being lived. How do people who live 60 miles from the issue truly experience it? I'm talking to a lot of different people right now, from Border Patrol to the Medical Examiner's office in Pima Country. But I'd love to hear from you, if you live near any border (Canada counts ... so does Miami -- a different kind of border), about how immigration issues affect your daily life. What do people who live in Washington D.C. not understand about this issue?

Barrie Hardymon

9:57 PM ET | 03-26-2007 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

Etched in ... LCD

That's a wrap for today... Now, we need a little help for something we're working up for Wednesday. Ryan Coonerty will be talking about his new book, "Etched in Stone: Enduring Words from Our Nation's Monuments." It's a whole collection of words and images from some of the country's most well-known monuments. Lincoln, Kennedy, Roosevelt, even completely anonymous authors are permanently remembered in marble from one coast to the other ... which are your favorites?

Scott Cameron

5:46 PM ET | 03-26-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

We'll Even Tell You How to Spell "Prosecutor"

It's just about quittin' time here, but before we go ... for Monday, we're thinking of doing a show about this growing scandal over the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys ... call it prosecutor-gate, attorney-gate, whatever. The e-mail chain of evidence reached the White House this week, and people seem to have a lot of questions. So, in the first hour Monday, we'll do a Q-and-A on the prosecutor scandal. If you can spare a minute over the weekend between trips to the grocery store or the corner bar, send us your questions, and we'll post them here. We'll get you some answers on the air Monday afternoon, and of course take your calls, too. But, help us out with some good Q's in advance ... besides, it will help keep you out of trouble this weekend!

Scott Cameron

5:00 PM ET | 03-16-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

Fix This!

Leonard Pitts, Jr., much admired syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald was fed up with writing about what doesn't work. He set out, in a new series of columns, to write about what does. We'll talk to him this hour, but we really want to hear from you about community initiatives and programs in your area that are actually working. This is the first in an occasional series we'll do about innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems ... so this is not just a place to comment on today's show (which we hope you'll do), but a place to give us suggestions on what to cover the next time we do a "solutions show." Is there a great addiction fighting program in your neighborhood? A particularly inventive after-school arts program? Has your city come up with a great way to fight crime, garbarge, litter, even noise pollution? Tell us about it.

Barrie Hardymon

1:06 PM ET | 03-14-2007 | permalink | comments (21) | e-mail post

Iraq Anniversary

This month marks the fourth anniversary of the United States' invasion of Iraq. It's a milestone, no matter if you support or oppose the war. And, as such, we plan to cover it. We have our own ideas on how to do that ... what interests you, where the conversation is now, what questions are out there, who people want to talk to, and what they want to talk about. And, we want your ideas ... what do you want to hear on the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq? Is there an angle or story or person we've missed? What do you want to talk about, four years on? (And if you're not familiar with the show, maybe take a few minutes to listen or to look at the TOTN page and see what kinds of topics we do, and what kind of topics we don't do. As with all our shows, what we need is engaging conversation, not dissertations or diatribes.) So, let us know...

Scott Cameron

10:42 AM ET | 03- 6-2007 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post