May 2001

World Citizens -- Commentator David Weinberger asserts that the experience children have on the Web now, voicing opinions and interacting with complete strangers, is going to change the kind of world we live in when they grow up. (2:30)

Tests -- Youth Radio's Nzinga Moore talks to some California students about the SAT-9 exam. The exam is not required for graduation, and some students choose not to take it. But the state ties school funding to the test. If too few students participate, schools lose money. (5:00)

Space Tourism -- Commentator Andrei Codrescu wonders about the motivation for millionaire Dennis Tito to be the first space tourist. He suspects a rich person's vision of utopia. (3:15)

Come to California-- Commentator Andrew Lam, an editor for the Pacific News Service, writes a letter to a cousin in Vietnam. He's answering a question. Should the cousin come to California? (3:00)

Russia - ABM Treaty -- NPR's Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr remarks on a report in today's New York Times that the Bush administration is courting Russia to abandon the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, and accept the U.S. push to build a missile defense system. (3:00)

Memorial Day -- Commentator Daniel Ferri, a Chicago teacher, reflects on this Memorial Day after a recent visit to Washington, D.C. (4:30)

Andrei Goes to Dallas -- Commentator Andrei Codrescu makes a trip to Dallas, and again passes up the chance to see the assassination museum in what was once the Texas School Book Depository. None of the locals he knows ever go there, and Codrescu wonders what the point would be. History lesson? Morbid curiosity? (3:30)

Pearl Harbor -- Commentator Ralph Schoenstein sympathizes with Disney executives who are marketing a Japan-sensitive version of their new film Pearl Harbor for the Japanese market. With tongue bitterly in cheek, Schoenstein says Japan "may or may not" have had anything to do with the real Pearl Harbor. (3:00)

Internet Saint -- Commentator Stacy Horn is a lapsed Catholic, so when she heard that the Vatican is considering a Saint of the Internet, she wanted to put her two cents in. She speaks to an archbishop about possible choices. (3:30)

Power of One -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorreflects on Jeffords' announcement and the power of one person to change the political landscape. (2:30)

Newark Trolleys -- Commentator Ralph Schoenstein pays a farewell visit to the aging cars of the Newark, New Jersey subway system. They are 24 cars built just after World War II and have been in continuous service since then. New Jersey Transit plans to retire them on Labor Day in favor of modern cars. Schoentsein takes us on a ride. (7:00)

Dying Fisherman -- Commentator Peter Heller relates the story of how his friend, a park ranger, rescued a fisherman who had a heart attack. The rescued man was upset. He had always envisioned dying while fishing on a summer afternoon. (2:45)

Not Racists-- When commentator Desiree Cooper moved, she was told that her new next door neighbors were racists. She was pleasant to them but didn't want to get involved. But over the years, she came to understand that her assumption had been wrong. (3:00)

Chin Implants -- The number of men seeking plastic surgery to change their chins has doubled in the past five years. We hear from Derek Antel, a plastic surgeon in New York City. (1:30)

Food Poisoning -- Commentator Meredith Small says it used to be that the only time to be afraid of food was during foreign travel. Now, extraordinary measures may be required even at home, before you bite into that steak. (2:45)

SUVs In Texas -- Commentator Rawlins Gilliland says Texans aren't about to give up their sport utility vehicles, despite rising gas prices and recent tire troubles. (3:30)

The U.S. and Mideast-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that, despite the Bush administration's reticence to become involved, America must play a more active role in the Mideast peace process. (2:30)

Little League -- Louise Branson is a British writer and journalist who lives in Northern Virginia. Her child is in Little League, and she's stunned by the hyper-competitiveness and over-involvement of parents. She admits that bad behavior on the sidelines isn't just an American phenomenon, and has some hope for the new baseball season. (3:00)

Office Politics -- Anthropologist Meredith Small examines the interpersonal intrigue that is so much a part of work life. It is something we should not try to avoid. Instead, we should acknowledge that it is part of our roots -- our primate roots. Meredith Small is a writer and professor of anthropology at Cornell University.

FBI Ups and Downs -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the McVeigh blunder may be the "tipping point" in a souring relationship between the FBI and Congress. (2:45) Lost & Found-- Commentator Bill Harley remembers his shock when his son found an ugly cap at the school Lost and Found, and decided to wear it. He feels his family name was soiled by the experience. (3:15)

Dick's Meadow -- Each year as springs abundance swells from the ground, writer Dick George is faced with a dilemma. He loves the rolling hills of his rural property and ponders leaving the lawn mower in the shed, and allowing nature to take its course. (3:00)

Sitcoms -- Commentator James Poniewozik says the television networks are resorting to relying on laugh tracks to provide the laughs in today's situation comedies. (3:00)

Yangze River -- Commentator Ann McBride Norton in China says as much as any one geographical feature, the Yangze River makes China what it is. China without the Yangze is unimaginable, she says. (4:30)

Of Mice and Mothers -- As a child, commentator Elissa Ely had an endless series of mice as pets. Every mouse eventually escaped -- and probably formed some big mouse community somewhere in the house. The children never worried about where they went, but their mother felt differently. (3:00)

Dodgeball -- Commentator Stephen Lynch can't believe that some schools around the country are banning dodgeball. He thinks this trend toward making childhood "safe" coddles kids. (3:30)

Human Robots -- Commentator John Mulligan finds himself in the year 2001 without the human-like servant robots he thought would be significant parts of our daily lives by now. (2:30)

Physics -- Commentator Daniel Ferri on what it takes to hold the attention of a group of students on a warm spring day. He imagines Gallileo's struggle to convince the church of his theory and the boredom on the Cardinal's face determined not to pay attention. As boredom sinks in and the earth and its axis orbit the sun, he comes to understand that boredom can release untold power. (3:00)

Black Commencement -- Commentator Robert Franklin is the president of the Interdenominational Theological Center which is holding its graduation this coming Saturday. He's looking forward to it. He says that at the graduation ceremony for historically black colleges, the culture of the church and the culture of the academy merge uncomfortably. (3:30)

Sea Shore -- Commentator Carol Wasserman reflects on the pieces of junk washed up on the beach and how a clean-up removed one kind of junk and replaced it with another. (3:45)

McVeigh Media -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders if the media attention given to Timothy McVeigh's execution is dangerous. (3:00)

Sidex -- Commentator Harry Shearer creates a commercial for a product that has no benefit, only side effects. (2:00)

Harvard Fuss -- Commentator Jim Sleeper, who holds a doctorate in education from Harvard, offers his thoughts on the student protest supporting better pay for those support personel who keep Harvard running. (2:30)

Yoga for Tots -- Commentator Ralph Schoenstein visits "O Two Yoga" in Somerville, Massachusetts. It works to relieve the stress of pre-schoolers using yoga training. The teachers say the kids are already experiencing signs of anxiety and have "lower back issues." Schoenstein learns the skills these pint-sized practictioners are doing. (4:00)

Ian -- Writer Rachel Louise Snyder tells the story of her friend, Ian. Ian went missing a year and a half ago --he is presumed dead, but Synder is unable to accept that he is really gone. Unlike death, which has rituals and finality, a missing person is just that -- missing, leaving loved ones and friends without a clear ending or a way to move on. (7:30)

Towers Comment -- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr comments on FBI Director Louis Freeh's determination in finding the perpetrators of the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. (2:30)

Space Suits and Balloons -- Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the first American in space. The memory of Alan Shepard's space flight has obscured another launch anniversary marked today by commentator Dave Amber, a graduate student at Texas A&M University. (2:45)

National Day of Prayer -- On National Prayer Day, observed throughout the U.S. today, commentator Joseph Loconte analyzes the success of The Prayer of Jabez. It's a book by Bruce Wilkinson which has risen to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book celebrates a little known character named Jabez who appears in the Old Testament. (3:30)

The Prayer of Jabez, by Bruce Wilkinson, is published by Multnomah, ISBN # 1576737330.

Star Wars -- Many 30-year-olds cite one movie as the most influential of their childhood: Star Wars. Novelist Silas House explains how Star Wars changed his life. (2:00)

Missile Defense Analysis-- NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr wonders why President Bush "chose this moment to open a national and international argument" about missile defense. (2:45)


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