Washington vs. the Credit Card Industry
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Congress is seeking ways to curb what many call abusive policies by credit card companies which leave card holders with unexpectedly high interest rates and huge debt. The House and Senate are both generating bills to this effect, and the White House is meeting with credit card company executives this week. We speak to Washington Post banking reporter, Binyamin Appelbaum.
Until It Hurts
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Imagine a 5 year-old skipping meals for days to “cut weight” for a wrestling meet; or a high school swimmer taking part in a 24-hour practice; or Little Leaguers throwing so many pitches that they need surgery before they hit high school. BusinessWeek sports writer Mark Hyman investigates how adults can push kids too far in youth sports in his new book, “Until it Hurts, America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids.”
A First in Turkey
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A designer best known for her stylish bars and restaurants is making history in Turkey. Zeynep Fadillioglu is the first woman to design a mosque in Istanbul. The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford reports.
Ten Years After Columbine
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With 13 killed and 23 wounded, Columbine was the worst school shooting in American history at the time. Many more have followed. We’ll speak with Joseph Lieberman, author of “School Shootings: What Every Parent Needs To Know To Protect Our Children.”
Boston Marathon
Salina Kosgei of Kenya narrowly beats Dire Tune of Ethiopia to win the women's division of the 113th Boston Marathon. (AP)
Here and Now’s Alex Ashlock joins us from the finish line with the winners of the 113th running of the Boston Marathon. We will also revisit an interview Alex did with Katherine Switzer. In 1967, she was the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon. The picture of race director Jock Semple trying to tackle flashed around the work, setting the stage for Switzer to become a pioneer in women’s running. Her book, “Marathon Woman,” is just out in paperback.
Music from the show
- Air, “Universal Traveler”
- The Wee Trio, “About a Girl”
- Nathan Milstein, “Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin”
- Talking Heads, “This Must Be the Place”
- Steve Earle, “Transcendental Blues”
Robin,
For your segment “Until it hurts” you might as well ask Rush Limbaugh about political moderation. Hyman is just sensationalizing his stories to sell books. Yes there are nuts in the US, and some of them are parents of kids that play sports. Don’t let him paint sports, kids or parents with such a broad brush. Almost all school sports are well regulated, activites that teach kids to improve themselves and accomplish goals.
Posted by Bradley Streeter, on April 20th, 2009 at 12:27 pmI’m listening to your interview w/ Mark Hyman. He is spot-on. I have 2 daughters who play league sports in my town, soccer and softball. Sports reign in our NH town and the politics around certain sports are just ridiculous. Neither of my children are “stars” in their sports, which means they were tracked by age 10 onto teams that are the acknowledged second-tier teams. Several of our league soccer coaches — and one indoor soccer association — are widely known to stack their teams with top players, then play them in divisions with some of these secondary teams so that they can come out champions. And if you haven’t specialized in a sport by age 11 or 12, it’s almost impossible to play on the high school junior varsity or varsity teams (at least our public high school allows kids to sign up for freshman teams with no prior experience in that sport).
As a coach for “Girls on the Run,” a program that teaches self-esteem for girls thru running, I can vouch for the benefits of competing for fun and health. In fact, we take competition out of the equation by hosting a road race that doesn’t include course times. It’s time for youth sports associations to recognize that there are other goals besides winning: exercising for health, learning the value of being on a team, belonging to a group.
Posted by Debbie Kane, on April 20th, 2009 at 12:39 pmHi Robin,
It was great to hear you mention the Boston Marathon, & I know it was just a short mention (except for the great K. Switzer part), but any runner listening WANTS TO KNOW THE TIMES!! What was the TIME of the winning man and woman?
We all calculate, and then I, at least, crack up, thinking how amazing it would be to be able to run that fast.
Thanks for the show, it’s great!
Jane
Posted by Jane Baldwin, on April 20th, 2009 at 4:48 pmRobin – Your interview with author Joseph Lieberman was both chilling and eye opening. Thank you for bringing his book to my attention.
Rich ~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by Rich Hanna, on April 21st, 2009 at 5:50 pmI am 30 years old Japanese woman, listening ‘school shooting’ from Japan.
Posted by Nana, on April 21st, 2009 at 7:06 pmDuring the time I was grown up, I remember that people used to call our country as ‘safest place in the world’, no gun, not much crime, people felt safe to live.
However it is now even difficult to imagine such ‘myth of safe society’ had existed in the past.
School shooting, attack, how to prevent attacker are now not the issues only in the US but everywhere in the world. We all concern about it. The radio show with shool shooting expert, Joseph Lieberman was very interesting!
Mr. Liebermans exposes us to a more valuable insight about these dreadful outbursts of rage and murder, perpetrated by suicidal individuals, than the general media ever has. A very worthwhile interview. Each incident seems so different when it makes headlines, and it’s more clear to me now that they are not that different. More to the point, they can probably be averted by the people close to the shooter.
Posted by Jacquie Schmall, on April 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 amIt’s clear that Joseph Lieberman has performed an invaluable public service in writing his book. He’s spot on in drawing a comparison between school shooters and suicide bombers. His book should be required reading in every institution of learning across the nation.
Posted by Hans Kracauer, on April 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 pmBravo! Joseph Lieberman has done us all a service. We need to make sure that it is taken seriously. Let’s pass on a copy or two to our local school principals. It would be an invaluable tool.
Posted by sandy ash, on April 29th, 2009 at 3:39 pm