February 2001

Faith and Society -- Commentator Joe Loconte says President Bush has sparked a national conversation about religion in America. Mr. Bush's proposals to make government more friendly to religion has shocked the political system. Conseratives and liberals are both being challenged to examine how their beliefs match their actions. With bipartisan support for expanding the role of religion, Loconte says it would be foolhardy not to try Bush's route. (3:15)

MAD Magazine -- MAD magazine ends its policy of not accepting advertising. It's a shock to commentator Bill Harley, who grew up learning about phoniness and crass commercialization. MAD was beholden to no one. Not any more. A very sad revelation. (3:15)

Dan on the Budget -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr doesn't see much hope for bipartisanship in negotiations over the Bush budget. (2:30)

Mardi Gras -- More things happen in one day in New Orleans at Mardi Gras than happen all year in a typical Ohio town. Commentator Andrei Codrescu hires an actual person from Ohio to chronicle all the things that happen in the French Quarter. (3:30)

Estate Tax Opponent -- Commentator Matthew Rothschilde says the battle over the estate tax is just a money grab for the wealthiest Americans. He says repealing it will create an "aristocracy of wealth." Rothschilde is editor of the Progressive Magazine in Madison, Wis. (2:45)

Religion and Net -- More people look to the Web for information about religion than for auctions or online banking. Commentator Steve Waldman thinks that this is because the Internet offers anonymity. (3:30)

Charlotte Busing -- For nearly 30 years, school officials in Charlotte, N.C., have been under court order to consider race when making student assignments. A group of parents filed a lawsuit challenging that policy, seeking the end of busing for desegregation. The case, which has lasted three years and produced two contradictory legal decisions, will be heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals tomorrow. Writer Andrea Cooper longs for the day when it's easy to answer the question, "Where is your child going to school?" (3:15)

Bush Foreign Policy -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the Bush administration is suffering from some foreign policy confusion. (3:00)

Riding the Bulls -- Commentator Kim Lane, in Austin, Texas, offers a cynics critique of the bull riding scene in Texas. For just 100-dollars, you too can risk your life. The song heard during this interview is called Sligo River Blues. It's from John Fahey's first record, Blind Joe Death, recorded in 1959. (2:30)

Cheerleading -- Youth Radio's Belia Meyeno Choy reports from Berkeley, Calif., on the new look of cheerleading. Today's cheerleading squads are providing entertainment, with moves based in dance and gymnastics. They're not just leading the crowd. (4:00)

Hate Speech -- Commentator Leis Wiehl says a federal judge in Illinois got it wrong when he gave a longer sentence to one of two people convicted in the burglary and arson of a Jewish community center. (3:00)

Goody Bags -- Kids these days expect a lot from the hosts of birthday parties. Commentator Lenore Skenazy says in her day, simple items like plywood paddles and rubber ball would do. (2:30)

Smoking Room -- For a psychiatrist, cigarettes can be a tool of therapy. Commentator Elissa Ely knows the unhealthy habit of smoking is a powerful motivation for patients in the psych ward. (2:45)

Car Rescue -- Commentator Marion Winik recalls the day she locked her baby in her car. She got exactly the right kind of help from a source she wouldn't have expected. (3:15)

Greek Hotel Receipt -- When checking out of a Greek hotel, Commentator Jeffrey Tayler asked for a receipt. The hotel owner did not want to write one. (3:15)

Man and Machines -- Commentator Douglas Rushkoff says we need to consider a new way to view the relaionship between human beings and their machines. Most companies, he argues, ignore the way people actually use technology. How else can you explain what's taking place on cell phones or the web. Wireless companies are attempting to shrink the web onto tiny cell phone screens...streaming media companies is trying to make the computer a TV or movie screen. Rushkoff says technology makers need to brings technology to the human being and not the other way around. (3:30)

Iraq et. al. -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says President George W. Bush finds himself in a tougher spot than his father was in when it comes to dealing with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. (3:00)

A School for Husbands -- For the past 16 years commentator Reynolds Price has employed male graduate students to run his household. It's the best education for potential husbands. (3:30)

Picking Flowers -- Commentator Carol Wasserman offers an expose about migrant workers working in greenhouses where she lives. She says owners don't want workers to speak English -- so they won't know about bathroom breaks and the poisonous chemicals. She details the horrendous working conditions. (4:00)

E-mail -- Commentator Daniel Ferri-- a sixth grade teacher -- is a novice to technology. He tried his first attempt at e-mail on a school computer. It was a very scary experience. (4:00)

Navy Missteps? -- Commentator Sherry Sontag, an investigative journalist and author, argues that if everything had been done by the rules, the submarine would never have hit the Japanese trawler. By holding back the answers to key questions while it investigates, the Navy compounds the impression of incompetence by appearing evasive. (3:00)

Alan Greenspan -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr calls for an end to the "cult of personality" surrounding Alan Greenspan. (3:00)

Clicking -- On this Valentine's Day, Commentator Ethan Herberman offers a love story from his trip to the Vancouver Zoo. (3:00)

Director's Cut DVD's -- Commentator Owen Gleiberman doesn't like the so-called "director's cuts" of movies that are increasingly available on DVDs.(2:15)

Some Better Ideas -- Commentator Jonathan Kranz has some ideas about inventions kids -- and their parents -- could really use, instead of the over-priced, poorly thought out toys often found in toy stores. (3:30)

Private Information - Public Access -- Commentator Katharine Mieszkowski says the Web has made it a whole lot easier to obtain all kinds of formerly private information. (2:30)

Marc Rich Pardon -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the Marc Rich pardon is going to leave a lasting stain on the Clintons' reputation. (2:45)

Sacred Ritual -- Reading Sunday papers in a coffee house, Commentator Andrei Codrescu was once the unwilling witness to a medical resident doing free-lance cosmetic surgery on two women joggers at the next table. (3:15)

U.S. - Russia -- Commentator Michael McFaul suggests that for all the bickering, the Russians might actually prefer the Bush administration to that of President Clinton. (3:30)

In Search of a Father -- Commentator Rick Ridgeway recounts his return to a Tibetan mountain where twenty years ago an avalanche stopped his climb, and killed his friend Jonathan Wright. Ridgeway went back to Minya Konka with Wright's daughter, Asia, who had grown up without ever knowing her father. (4:00)

Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure In Search of a Lost Father, by Rick Ridgeway is published by Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-6284-X.

Musical Cell Phone Rings -- The latest cell phones all seem to sport musical rings. Spin Magazine writer Chris Norris ponders the application and we hear some of the digital tweedles. (3:30)

Mideast Peace - Next Steps -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the changing of administrations in the U.S. and Israel leaves the peace process on uncertain footing. (3:00)

Doctor at Bedside -- Natalie Mariano is a primary care physician in Falmouth, Massachusetts, who makes housecalls. She observes the rituals of life and love at the hour of a patient's death. (3:30)

Pizza Kids and Dot-com Millionaires -- Commentator Douglas Rushkoff says it's the investors themselves, not the dot-com innovators, who are to blame for the big losses they sustained when Internet companies flopped. (3:30)

Inequality -- Commentator Dinesh D'Souza suggests growing inequality is a reflection of something that is right with the economy, rather than something wrong. (3:30)

Egosurfing -- Commentator Andrew Lam learned by chance about ego-surfing: surfing the Internet to find his own name. He says the experience was mesmerizing. (2:30)

A Helpful Sight -- Commentator Reynolds Price remembers how the sighting of a famous and nimble couple relieved him of the depression from which he was suffering. (3:30)

Tax Plan Analysis -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says the Bush tax cut plan faces "a tunnel of complexities" before it can be realized. (2:30)

Signs -- Commentator Jonathan Kranz says markers in his town commemorating the prominent people and events of the past are important reminders of the working people who once lived there. The community has changed. Trains passing through now carry commuters rather than goods from the town's factories. Without the signs, he says, it would be easy to see the privilege of the town without understanding how it came to be. (3:00)

"Dead" Grandparents -- In twenty years of university teaching, Commentator Meredith Small has heard from hundreds of students who have just "lost" a grandparent. She knows the drill well, having pulled a similar trick herself as an undergraduate. So she wants proof. (2:45)

W.T.O. - Qatar -- Matthew Rothschild of The Progressive magazine has a few thoughts regarding the World Trade Organization's decision to hold it's next big meeting in Qatar . Protestors will find it had to get to the small Middle East country, not to mention forget about Seattle style protests. (3:00)

Bush and Russia -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr examines the Bush administration's policy toward Russia -- one he calls a "policy of neglect." (3:00)


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