Patt Morrison for Friday, October 7, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, October 7, 2011

1-3 p.m.

PLEDGE POWER BLOCK

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:18 : OPEN

 

1:21:30 – 1:50

The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience

Princeton University professor Cornel West and broadcaster Tavis Smiley have been two of President Obama’s most outspoken critics. West has called the President a “black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs” and “someone who was using intermittent progressive populist language in order to justify a centrist, neoliberalist policy”—some pretty strong words from a man who supported the President in the 2008 campaign. So what caused the riff? With 50 million Americans—one in six—living in poverty and a black unemployment rate that is double that of whites, both Smiley and West believe that the Obama Administration isn’t doing enough to help make the economic playing field more equal. In an effort to put a human face on the economic crisis, the two joined forces in August 2011 for The Poverty Tour—a bus tour of 18 cities across nine states. Smiley called what he witnessed both “inspiring” and “heartbreaking,” noting that “Americans who were recently middle class are now considered the ‘new poor’.” What ideas do West and Smiley have for President Obama to combat poverty in America and how economically and politically feasible will they be to implement? Does the President have any special obligation to address those suffering in the black community? Given the state of the economy and the political realities Obama has to grapple with, is West and Smiley’s criticism of the President justified, or unproductive?

 

Guests:

Tavis Smiley, broadcaster, author and co-host of the Smiley & West show on PRI

 

Cornel West, professor at Princeton University, New York Times best-selling author and co-host of the Smiley and West show on PRI

 

• Tavis Smiley’s special series on poverty begins on October 7 on PRI’s The Tavis Smiley Show.  Check for local listings.

 

 

1:50:00 – 1:58:30  

Sesame Street introduces poor muppet

Meet the new muppet, Lily. She’s pink, cute, and also poor. Sesame Street is tackling childhood poverty and food insecurity in a special that will air this Sunday. The special episode, Growing Hope Against Hunger, will air during primetime, meaning the youngest Sesame Street viewers may not be tuned in. Does this kind of programming empower kids to help their peers, or make children who aren’t poor feel powerless to help friends like Lily? And a la Archie Bunker, is the introduction of a poor character a good way to open up the difficult topic of childhood poverty for discussion?

 

Guest:

Alison Trope studies media and pop culture criticism at USC

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Why it really stinks to be single…and it’s probably not what you’re thinking

You’re crashing on a deadline at work. You know your boss is about to approach and ask some members of the team to stay late. Will you be one? Your colleague is married, but you’re not. Will that play any role in your supervisor’s decision to keep one of you and let the other get home on time? Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. are unmarried – that adds up to about 100 million people. Some unmarried people may be in committed relationships, gay or straight, and either can’t or don’t wish to marry. Others are truly single. Are our laws and social customs skewed too much in the favor of married people? Singles can’t access paid family leave, even though more often than not it’s unmarried adult children who care for ageing or sick parents. And yet, employers may see single women as more reliable than newlyweds, and prefer to hire an unmarried candidate. Is your marital status an indicator of how much you contribute to the community? Should we extend medical and family leave policies to single people? And how realistic are our workplaces about the responsibilities single and married people have to their families?

 

Guest:

Stephanie Coontz, director of Research at the Council on Contemporary Families; author of A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

What’s makes Pancreatic cancer so deadly?

It’s the deadliest and most intractable form of cancer and Steve Jobs lived with it for over six years through sometimes alternative and desperate treatments. In an age when many people survive the disease, what makes pancreatic cancer so deadly? Patt talks with a leading expert about the aggressive disease and the current options for treatment.

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Dr. Edward Wolin, co-director of the Carcinoid Neuroendocrine Cancer Program at Cedars Sinai Medical Center

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30: OPEN

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org