Commentaries
September 2003

Doctors
Medical school is largely about absorbing facts. Commentator and medical student Joe Wright is also listening to the message his professors are sending.

American Empire
Commentator Kurt Campbell argues that the United States is an imperial power now, no matter how jarring the word "empire" is to American ears. It's necessary to take advantage of that status now, but the United States should also be looking for ways to give up empire willingly, Campbell argues. Campbell is a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

Rosh Hashanah Romance
Commentator Hank Rosenfeld tells a story about being enlightened by and falling in love with a Torah-aerobics instructor.

Imaginary Friend
Commentator Heather Havrilesky recently ran into a friend from her past -- her imaginary friend.

Muslim Chaplain
An investigation into possible security breaches at the military base at Guantanamo Bay continues. An Air Force translator and a Muslim Army chaplain who worked at the U.S. prison camp for terrorism suspects are both in custody, though the chaplain has not been charged. The translator is facing 32 criminal charges, including espionage and aiding the enemy. This story of Muslims in the U.S. armed forces accused of disloyalty reminds commentator Askia Muhammad of his own military past.

Bush Vulnerable Abroad -- And at Home
NPR Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr says that the more vulnerable President Bush appears in the international community, the more vulnerable he is likely to appear at home.

D.C. School Vouchers
Next week, the Senate is set to take up the annual appropriations bill for the District of Columbia. Included in the package is a federal pilot program for school vouchers. It would give 1,300 children $7,500 for tuition at a private school. The measure has already passed the House. Commentator Katie Davis works with children in her Washington, D.C., neighborhood, and she feels that some details are being left out of the debate over school vouchers.

Bush at the U.N.
NPR Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr says that at the heart of the U.S.-European rift over postwar Iraq is the issue of which countries will be awarded lucrative reconstruction contracts.

Lone Muslim in First Grade
In 1970, commentator Mubarak Dahir was in the first grade at Sharpe Elementary School in Memphis, Tenn. Not surprisingly, he was the only Muslim in his class. Every Monday morning, his teacher asked which students went to Sunday school, and Mubarak did not raise his hand.

The Home Anthropologist
Being an anthropologist helps commentator Meredith Small cope with some behavior in her own home that drives most people up a wall.

The U.S. Dream Deficit
CCommentator Andrei Codrescu ponders the pharmaceutical reasons behind the dream deficit in the country. People don't get as much sleep, thus they aren't dreaming as much as they need to.

Evolution
Commentator Aaron Freeman thought he was just taking a bike ride in the country. But when a dog started to chase him, he was transported back 200,000 years to the plains of Africa, where his ancestor, Og Freeman, was attacked by a wild animal.

Recall Delayed
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the postponement of the California recall election will leave observers with many unanswered questions -- including how America, a technologically advanced nation which is organizing elections for Afghanistan and Iraq, cannot organize an election for the state of California.

Free Food on the Hill
Commentator Deana Bass is a congressional staffer who says one of her favorite parts of working on Capitol Hill is the free food. As a hill staffer, she's used to eating at receptions hosted by all kinds of lobbying groups.

Leni and Eddie
Commentator Andrei Codrescu muses on the deaths of two figures of 20th century history who died this week: Leni Riefenstahl, the German filmmaker who captured images of Adolf Hitler that shaped the dictator's propaganda image, and Edward Teller, the Hungarian Jew who was considered the father of the H-bomb. Both lived to a ripe old age. They survived, says Codrescu, in part because the things they created didn't ruin our lives.

September 11
The American Dialect Society named the date of the 2001 terrorist attacks as the most important new term in America's vocabulary. But even they couldn't agree whether to say Nine-Eleven, Nine-One-One, or September 11th. Commentator Geo Beach has a clear position on the matter: We should take a few extra syllables and call it September eleventh.

Fat Dogs
While listening to this program, commentator Daniel Pinkwater was startled by the news that American cats and dogs are too fat. He has a conversation with his dog Lulu about the situation.

Mexican Garlic
Commentator Chester Aaron, a garlic farmer in Occidental, California, tells the story of his encounter with a group of drunk young Latino men who caused a ruckus on his property. Years later, Aaron became fast friends with one of the men, who now lavishes the farmer with Mexican garlic and home-cooked treats.

North Korea
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the Bush administration is in danger of being out-maneuvered by Kim Jong Il.

'Til There Was You'
Commentator Genie Zeiger sees her elderly mother come to life while watching their favorite musical.

Ola May
Commentator Elissa Ely remembers being a happy, self-centered child who didn't realize how mean she could be.

Clothes Firms Try on Teen Fiction
Roxy Girl's primary business is surf wear, and Limited Too stores in malls across the country sell clothes and accessories for "tweens." But the clothes chains are branching into fiction. Commentator Rosemary Graham, author of a book for young adults called My Not-So-Terrible Time at the Hippie Hotel, says the results are mixed.

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