G.M. Moves to Join Chrysler in Bankruptcy Court
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General Motors’ creditors rejected company stock this morning as a form of debt payment, making a GM bankruptcy filing almost certain. Meanwhile, Chrysler is asking a bankruptcy judge this morning for permission to sell the bulk of its assets to a group headed by Fiat. Micheline Maynard, Senior Business Correspondent for The New York Times comments.
Judge Sotomayor
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A former law clerk and self-described conservative who’s known Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor for 13 years responds to criticism of Sotomayor’s intellect and temperament. We speak with Gerard Magliocca, law professor at Indiana University, who writes about Sotomayor in an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times.
Future of Work
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What will the jobs of the future in the U.S. be like? According to a series of articles in Time Magazine, there may not be cubicles and receptionists, jobs will migrate to Florida, Texas and Arizona and US manufacturing will rise — but we won’t be making cars, we’ll be making higher tech devices like heart valves. We speak with Stephen Gandel a senior writer at Time Magazine.
Burmese Democracy Leader on Trail
Members of the National League for Democracy, led by Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, release birds as a gesture of freedom for Suu Kyi during a ceremony marking the 19th anniversary of election victory, which the junta has never recognized, in Yangon, Myanmar, Wednesday, May 27, 2009. (AP)
The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the opposition political party in Burma is now in its 8th day. She’s accused of violating the terms of her long-time house arrest after a bizarre incident–American John Yettaw swam across a lake, un-invited, to intrude on her home. If convicted, Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, could face 5 years in prison. What motivated the American John Yettaw and why is the Burmese military junta so afraid of Aung San Suu Kyi? We’ll speak with Tin Thar Shwe, head of the BBC’s Burmese Service.
From Cages to Conservation
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In part two of our examination of the role of zoo’s in modern society, producers Diane Toomey and Christina Russo focus in on one of the primary attractions at zoos – elephants. Toomey reports that animal rights proponents complain that elephants are too large to lead decent lives in zoos, and while some zoos have either shut down or are phasing out their elephant exhibits, other zoo officials maintain that most elephants are well cared for, and are excellent conservation ambassadors.
Enlighten Up!
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When filmmaker Kate Churchill set out to make a film about the possible spiritual benefits of yoga, she decided to recruit Nick Rosen, a novice to the discipline as a guinea pig. For six months Nick goes to yoga studios from New York City to Hawaii and eventually to India, chronicled by Kate’s ever-present camera. We speak to both Kate Churchill and Nick Rosen about the resulting documentary, “Enlighten Up!”.
Music from the show
- Sam Bisbee, “You are Here” from the film “Enlighten Up!”
- Four Tet, “Unspoken”
- Modest Mouse, “The Cold Part”
For the first time in 30 years of Public Radio listening, I muted my radio. The audio of the elephant tied down and screaming while being tortured by the bull hook veered way over the line.
The audio was totally unnecessary. We’re all intelligent listeners. All that needed to be done was to describe the scene. We would have figured out its appalling nature.
The audio was sensationalistic, nauseating, way beneath NPR’s standards, and insulting to your listeners
Posted by Stephanie Kesler, on May 27th, 2009 at 12:52 pmBecause of having breast cancer, I have had the opportunity to join several yoga programs, each to help ease the stress of dealing with my disease. WELL, what STRESSES me IS yoga practitioners who INSIST that I “LEARN TO LET GO”! WHY? BECAUSE it is THEIR spiritual practice, and I guess it is part of yoga practice, too. Well, why not INSIST that I subscribe to a particular RELIGION??? I KNOW that yoga and even Buddhism and I think Hinduism are more philosophies and practices than they are religions, but too many of the AMERICAN teachers of yoga teach “letting go” AS IF it WERE a religion. NO! I will NOT subscribe!!! Since my EARLIEST childhood, I have intuitively been an animist, finding godliness in EVERYTHING! And, MY natural religious tendencies cajole me toward EMBRACING this Everything, not letting it go!!! THAT is my basic spiritual/religious/philosophical point of view, and yet, I have gotten snarky remarks from EVERY SINGLE yoga teacher!!!!! Stress!!! ALSO, I’m the one with cancer, don’t you think I might WANT to hang on rather than letting go — I’m NOT dying yet, why would I want to act like I was by…..letting go! Yoga Fascism is what I usually wind up calling it! I have no idea how it is really practiced in the East.
Posted by Christina, on May 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pmJust heard the program on the movie Enlighten Up and felt very sorry for the producer and the actor because though the true Yoga is totally about enlightenment, it takes years of practice not to mention a total life change including what you eat and how much you sleep to experience the enlightenment. By trying something for six months and then declaring that it did not quite work for me is like saying that I tried to eat healthy for one meal and I am not healthy yet.
A true yogi starts at a very young age, follows the life of non-violence – even in thoughts – and eats fresh fruits and vegetables, practices mediation for years before enlightenment occurs.
Wish someone had mentioned that in the program or in the movie.
Posted by Meenal, on May 27th, 2009 at 1:52 pmThis is for Stephanie and any other listeners who might have felt the same way.. I agree! At least in part.
We should have warned listeners that it was going to be difficult to hear.
But we wrestle all the time with whether or not listeners should have the choice to hear disturbing sound, and obviously we felt this wasn’t just gratuitous but drove home a point about animal treatment.
Again, so sorry it was difficult. So sorry it’s happening.
Best
Posted by Robin Young, on May 27th, 2009 at 1:54 pmRobin
Concerning your Cages to Conservation story, I don’t know if it would be able to be created practically, but I’ve had an idea about a way for a zoo to be designed if it must include elephants. I envision a continuous, deep moat dug around the entire perimeter of the zoo and landscaped with appropriate trees and grasses. The elephants could have evening holding enclosures but would be allowed access to the moat during the day. This would allow the elephants to walk around and around in a continuous manner. That would be more like what they would do in the wild and I bet they would be a lot happier. It would be good viewing for the zoo patrons also who could periodically peer over the rail to watch them. Maybe have some video stations here and there that would show you where they were presently at in the moat. Some other animals could also share the moat with the elephants. like antelopes or zebras.
Posted by Rex, on May 27th, 2009 at 8:19 pmI agree with the caretaker at the shelter that said the elephants should want to kill us for the way some of them have been treated.
And please don’t play the sound of that torture tape again.
RE: Judge Sotomayor and the interview w/’reporters’ from The Washington Post and NY Times.
Judges are to be blind and impartial to race, religion, social status, poverty + wealth….. You know LADY JUSTICE with a blindfold, holding a scale, wearing a robe to separate the Judge from the public and any outside influences, aside from…… you guessed it, the LAW.
NPR needs to be less liberal, at LEAST BRING UP THESE POINTS to your listeners…. NPR should look at things from a liberal + conservative Points of view. Why didn’t you invite New Gingrich on to talk about the subject? Instead you had 2 liberal reporters, wake up – …you are supposed to report THE NEWS, correct??
Posted by Beth/Boston, on May 30th, 2009 at 2:50 pm