Oil Drilling

President Bush is calling on Congress to lift the 27-year ban on offshore oil drilling, insisting that when lawmakers do that, he’ll lift an executive order his father signed in 1990 that banned drilling. We speak with Wall Street Journal reporter Stephen Power.

Transracial Adoption

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A new report on transracial adoption claims that a 1994 law mandating social workers take a colorblind approach when placing children with adoptive parents, may not be helping minority children as intended. We speak with Adam Pertman, the executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a research and advocacy organization that published the report. We also hear from Shannon Gibney, an African American woman who was adopted by white parents.

Floods of 1993

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As Midwesterners cope again with flooding, we look back at the flood of 1993 with Adam Pitluk. Pitluk’s new book, Damned to Eternity: The Story of the Man Who They Said Caused the Flood, tells what happened to James Scott. Scott, who was volunteering in a community effort to stop the flood waters, was convicted of sabotaging the levees by tampering with sandbags.

American Cheerleaders in India

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Several NFL cheerleaders went to India to work as cheerleaders for cricket teams….with western style dancing and skimpy uniforms. We speak with Heather Tran, who is a cheerleader for the Washington Redskins. She is just back from Bangalore India….and says if the fans were razzing her, she couldn’t tell because of the language barrier.

Celtics

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Celtics’ fan, Robin Young, reflects on last night’s big win.

Educational Rap

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Here and Now’s Victoria Cheng reports on the new company Rhythm, Rhyme Results, or Triple R, that is producing rap and hip-hop music with educational content for use in middle and high schools. The songs, recorded by prominent rappers, cover subjects such as verb tense, the 27 amendments to the Constitution and photosynthesis to name just a few. And they are getting positive reviews from students, teachers and music critics alike.