Patt Morrison Schedule for Friday, July 25, 2012

1:06 – 1:19

Wal-Mart’s new Neighborhood Market opens in Huntington Beach

The name Wal-Mart can be polarizing. For some, it’s their Graceland. For others, it’s a low-paying, anti-union juggernaut that robs mom-and-pop stores of their customers. Regardless of your feelings towards the company, it’s persistent, and it has a new strategy. Instead of building the gargantuan stores they are famous for, the company will be launching a sleeker, sexier version: Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets, meant to bring affordable groceries to underserved areas. The first Neighborhood Market opens Friday in Huntington Beach; over 200 are set to open nationwide. Because of the expansion, the company is also on track to create nearly 1000 jobs in Orange County alone. Critics argue that Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Markets have the potential to kill smaller local businesses, but some locals welcome Wal-Mart’s price point. Has Wal-Mart found a way to break through their negative publicity? Would you want a Neighborhood Market in your neck of the woods?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

1:20 – 1:39 OPEN

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Using Craigslist for…everything.

Imagine you have no money, no friends, no car, and no house. Imagine you have nothing but a computer and a connection to Craiglist.  Could you survive for a month based only on want-ads for gigs, rides, and friends? Would you be trusting (or naïve) enough to try? Joseph Garner did, and the experience took him all across the United States. Garner’s film, “Craigslist Joe,” opens August 2, and he stops in chat with guest host Brian Watt about the project.

 

Guests:

Joseph Garner, director of “Craigslist Joe”

 

2:06 – 2:19

The high cost of health care hits home for Aurora shooting victims

Like many Americans, some of Aurora’s 58 wounded did not have health insurance, and now face huge medical bills. No one knows the exact number of how many of the shooting victims lack health insurance, but nearly one in three Coloradans have inadequate or no health insurance at all. Who will pay the cost? Warner Brothers, the studio behind the Batman movie where the shooting took place, has pledged $2 million to help victims. And three of the five hospitals treating victims announced on Wednesday that they will lower or completely eliminate the cost of treatment. But for victims that need long-term treatment, will this be enough? Will the money still be there when the media attention has faded? And who will oversee the distribution of funds?

Guests:

TBD

 

2:20 – 2:40 OPEN

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

‘What would you take’ if your house was on fire?
That’s the question posed by a new book by Foster Huntington called “The Burning House.” It’s an age old conundrum incited by a question that everyone dearly hopes remains hypothetical. The book began its life as a conversation at a dinner party. That one four-word question caused people to look inward and truly consider what items in their life had the most value. The discussion soon blossomed into a blog, and then into a project so all encompassing that Huntington quit his job in New York and set off on a journey around the American West to seek out and document the answers of a diverse set of people. As the project gained momentum Huntington compiled hundreds of pictures submitted with respondents’ lists - and it is those pictures that make up the book “The Burning House.” The dozens of pictures in the book feature items practical (laptops, passports and shoes), valuable (laptops, musical instruments and jewelry) sentimental (photographs, family heirlooms and books) and intangible (loved ones and pets) and all of them provide intimate details about thoughts and values rarely shared with others. What irreplaceable items would you take if your house was on fire? 

Guest:
Foster Huntington, author of “The Burning House” (Harper Collins 2012)