Monday, April 13, 2009
Bob talks with Melanie Trottman who reports on workplace issues for The Wall Street Journal. She and Bob talk about EFCA, the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier to unionize workplaces. Next, listing Leonardo da Vinci’s roles sounds like the textbook definition of a Renaissance man: painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, engineer, musician, writer, mathematician and inventor. Da Vinci left behind hundreds of notebooks filled with ideas and inventions, many of them never before tested. Discovery Channel’s Doing DaVinci builds some of da Vinci’s most ambitious designs, testing how they stand up in reality, and Bob talks with modern day Renaissance man and Doing DaVinci consultant Dr. Jonathan Pevsner, a da Vinci expert, author, and faculty member of the Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
There are two things about Newshour anchor Jim Lehrer that most people don’t know: he collects buses and he’s an accomplished novelist. His 19th novel, Oh, Johnny, is published this month. Bob and Lehrer talk news, buses and writing fiction. Then, Franz Wisner was on this program once before to talk his book Honeymoon With My Brother. After being left at the altar, Wisner went ahead with the honeymoon sans fiancé. The Wisner brother “honeymoon” lasted two years and took them to 53 countries. Now Wisner is back with a follow-up, How the World Makes Love.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The $160 million in bonuses paid to AIG employees inspired anger from the Oval Office to Main Street. But the $3.6 billion in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch workers oddly has not – nor has the $210 million paid to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employees. Washington Post reporter Amit Paley discusses who’s getting what of the bailout funds – and why some lawmakers are perplexed by the complicated rules related to executive compensation during this financial crisis. Then, David Benioff never pictured himself as a screenwriter, but when his novel The 25th Hour was optioned for a film, he decided that no other scriptwriter could do the book justice. Since then, Benioff has been writing scripts for Hollywood blockbusters like Troy and the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Benioff has grown into a top writer for the big screen but he never abandoned his literary roots. His latest novel, City of Thieves, has just been released in paperback. The story follows two prisoners who are sent on an impossible quest in the most desperate of circumstances: the Siege of Leningrad, 1942.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
At the end of 2006, more than 1 million skilled immigrant professionals — engineers, scientists, doctors, researchers — and their families were waiting for permanent resident visas. Only 120,000 visas are given out every year. A new study shows that instead of continuing to wait, the immigrants are returning home. Bob talked with Vivek Wadhwa, the researcher behind the study. He explains what’s causing the reverse brain drain and why it matters to the US economy. Then, Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley was hated in his native New York, loved in Los Angeles and became the most notorious baseball owner in sports history. Michael D’Antonio’s new biography is called Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
Friday, April 17, 2009
David Broder of The Washington Post joins Bob to talk live about the latest news from the capital and beyond. Next, French film Paris 36 is, in part, about a small Parisian theater in 1936. But the story really centers on the lives of the men and women who kept their theater running as France headed towards war. Bob talks with director Christophe Barratier (The Chorus) and new-comer actress Nora Arnezeder. Finally, Bob talks sports with our sports guy, Dave Zirin.