January 2001

Testing Kids -- Commentator Jonathan Kranz worries about children who may be hurt by standardized testing, because they think in different ways than other students do. (3:00)

China Portrait -- Commentator Ann McBride Norton has been living in Southwest China for more than a year. Although she's an average sized woman by U.S. standards, Norton is learning the hard way what it is like to be an extra, extra large person. (4:00)

Newspaper Lady -- A commentary by Elissa Ely about a patient in a psychiatric hospital who is devoted to her collection of newspaper. (3:00)

Technology Metaphors -- Commentator David Weinberger says the technology we use has an effect on how we speak. He says the World Wide Web is likely to change the metaphors we use. For instance, will we have a "broken link" when our memory lapses? (3:15)

Charlotte, North Carolina -- Poet and commentator Andrei Codrescu offers a rumination about the success of banking in Charlotte, North Carolina. He thinks the local Southern culture, and the culture of San Francisco, where Bank of America has its headquarters, do not merge well. (3:00)

Baltimore Memories -- Commentator Dick George has lived in Maryland long enough to have grown up with the Baltimore Colts. When the Colts left Baltimore Dick George gave up on football. Now football fever has returned. (3:00)

Chipification -- Commentator Katharine Mieszkowski tells us about a new technology that could make being alone a thing of the past. Chip implants under the skin that can track our location and our body signs. They could become the new digital status symbol. Trading privacy for security, we can keep watch on kids, spouses, elderly relations. (3:15)

Pardons for Sale? -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that President Clinton's last-minute pardons are an example of clemency for cash. (3:00)

Faith-based Initiatives -- Commentator Robert Sirico is president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He argues in favor of President Bush's proposals for government funding of religious charities. (2:45)

Billy's Binder -- Commentator Daniel Ferri teaches sixth grade. He says onething sixth graders have a lot of trouble with is organization. Take Billy's 3-ring binder, for example. (3:45)

Reaching Across Party Lines -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders if the new administration is going to stick to its bipartisan promises. (3:00)

Off the Grid -- Commentator Peter Navarro says that Californians are hostages to the centralized system of electricity distribution. The solution lies with new technologies for generating electricity privately including solar power, fuel cell generators, and microturbines. (3:30)

Martial Arts Heroes -- Commentator Andrew Lam remembers when, as a boy, he would pretend to be a martial arts hero, simulating extraordinary skills like "the dragon" stance or "the iron palm." Those were the days when American children would make fun of his reliance on Eastern culture. Things have changed. (3:30)

Iraq - Bush -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that George W. Bush may end up wishing that George H. W. Bush had "finished the job" in Iraq. (2:30)

Religion and Spirituality -- Commentator Ellen Charry says spirituality is "in" and religion seems to be "out" these days. But spirituality can fall short without the ritual, history and discipline religion provides. (3:15)

Lying and Meatloaf -- Commentator Elissa Ely recalls embellishing facts as a child to create stories about her family and life. (3:30)

US-Russia Relations -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says the incoming Bush Administration will take a new, less cordial approach to American dealings with Russia.

Mirrors-- Commentator Lenore Skenazy has a secret for greater happiness:banish full-length mirrors. This comes after an unpleasant realization that an old, ugly person seen across the department store turned out to be her, in a full length mirror. (2:30)

Black Preachers -- Commentator Robert Franklin, President of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, reflects on the role of black preachers in American life. They are at once poets and storytellers and the conscience of the country. (3:15)

Virus -- Poet and commentator Andrei Codrescu offers a meditation about the human body. (3:30)

Special Education -- Commentator Michael Berube talks about his son Jamie, who has Downs Syndrome and attends a mainstream public school in Champaign, Illinois. One of Michael's low points in his son's academic year is the annual holiday concert, where, on stage, Jamie never seems to perform as well his father knows he can. Michael wants the other parents to see how well Jamie is doing, so they will understand that not only are their children teaching Jamie, but Jamie is also teaching them about what it means to be different. (3:45)

Linda Chavez -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the Chavez implosion is another example of a cover-up gone awry. (3:00)

Nominees -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr notes that cabinet nominees are often on the defensive for personal missteps, as opposed to more substantive issues. (3:00)

Bird Watching -- Out west, Commentator Bill Harley witnessed the spectacular awaken of hundreds of birds as they rise at dawn in a vast nature preserve. It was a pretty picture, until Bill opened his car door, disturbing the scene to the chagrin of bird watchers. (4:00)

Church Signs -- Commentator Kim Lane offers humorous reflections on the signs churches post out front; those clever witticisms about God and Hell and such. (3:00)

Confessions of An Obit Reader -- Commentator Marion Roach says she loves to read stories of what people have done with their lives. She liked the obituary for Robert Merrill who composed songs that had to be hummable. Roach says obits are a great reward for a good life. (3:30)

Science Lessons -- Commentator Daniel Ferri tells us how he decided to teach some complicated scientific theory to his sixth grade students in Chicago. (4:00)

Mentoring -- Commentator Desiree Cooper says that a proven way to help a young person is through mentoring. She introduces us to Jim Bosscher, who mentors three boys in Detroit through a program at his church. Jim says, "I read about problems all over the world. Well, this is a problem I can do something about." (2:30)

Colin Powell -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr considers Secretary-designate Colin Powell's first days at the State Department and wonders if he might become less hesitant to use force. (3:00)

Bricks and Metaphor -- Commentator Jonathan Kranz is grateful for the decision to save rather than demolish the Romanesque town hall in his home town of Winchester, Massachusetts. He rues the parallel trends of smaller, plainer public spaces and more grandiose private ones and what they say about our lives and communities. (4:00)

World Court Treaty Flaws --Commentator Jeffrey Pryce says flaws in the treaty to create an international criminal court are serious and must be fixed. Countries committing war crimes against their own people wouldn't be prosecuted under the treaty while officials of a country like the U.S. coming to the rescue could be. U.S. officials could also be prosecuted for retaliating against terrorism abroad. (3:45)

Hillary's Book --Commentator Lenore Skenazy wonders in what great literary style New York Senator-elect Hillary Clinton might write her new book -- for which Ms. Clinton has received a multi-million dollar deal. (2:45)

Middle East Analysis -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that President Clinton might keep his role in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations even after Inauguration Day. (3:00)


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