RE: Patt Morrison schedule for Friday, December 30, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, December 30, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

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

 

DAVID LAZARUS IS GUEST HOST

PLEDGE DRIVE

 

1:07 – 1:19  OPEN

 

1:26 – 1:53

Time Warner Cable’s rates go up, again – will customers go too?

Time Warner Cable, the country’s second largest cable company, is giving its Southern California customers a not-so-nice present for the New Year: a substantial rate increase. Some rates for local broadcast channels will go up a whopping 27.4 percent, from $13.34 to $17. There will be a 9.5 percent increase for broadcast plus basic cable channels, and a 7.3 percent increase for the digital video package. Even the initial installation of Time Warner for video, internet or phone service is set to soar, from $32.99 to $49.99, a 51.5 percent increase. A Time Warner spokesman says the elevated rates are due to higher fees charged by broadcasting companies for access to channels such as ESPN and Fox Sports. Other cable companies, however, such as Comcast, say they don’t anticipate rate hikes in the immediate future. Will you switch cable companies, or drop cable altogether?

Guest:

Judy Dugan, research director, Consumer Watchdog

Jim Gordon, a spokesman for Time Warner

ON TAPE

 

2:08 – 2:44

If you'd like to make your New Year's resolutions stick, try this: have someone else make them for you.

New Year’s resolutions: noble and ephemeral, they make their appearance in the dead of winter, and somehow, in our bumbling attempts to stick with them, we claw our way to spring. By the end of the year’s first quarter, however, most of us have broken from our stated goals and moved onward down that road paved with good intentions. What if, however, you were no longer reporting just to yourself? Last year, New Yorkers Elizabeth and Michael Singer made resolutions for each other, instead of for themselves. Karen Pratt and her son Ben have given each other resolutions for ten years running—since Ben was 12, in fact. How hard would it be to hear someone other than yourself tell you to lose those pounds? Would you be willing to stick with your resolution if it was based on an observation from someone else? Or does the idea of facing a Quarterly Progress Report from someone other than your employer make you clench your teeth?

Guest:

Elizabeth Bernstein, writer of the Bonds column for the Wall Street Journal, where she explores human interactions at home, at work or among friends.

 

2:44– 2:54

The best of Steven King

Almost a decade has passed since literary critic Harold Bloom called the men and women of the National Book Foundation idiots for choosing to honor author Stephen King with a medal for distinguished contribution. Bloom criticized King for his pop horror and sci-fi genre affiliation, which he deemed without literary value. So we wonder what Bloom would make of the New York Times’ “Best Books of 2011,” which, for the first time ever, includes a work by King: “11/22/63,” his alternate take on the John F. Kennedy assassination, released in November. It’s King’s 52nd book, following up a continuous line of creepy, compelling novels going back to 1974’s “Carrie,” long considered a horror classic. Known for his prolific output, King has also been working on a sequel to his 1977 opus “The Shining” called “Dr. Sleep.” Have you read “11/22/63”? Do you think it’s as good as King’s other novels, and deserves a New York Times “Best Books of 2011” honor? What are your favorite books by King? Why does he merit appreciation, or not?

Guest:

TBD