How reliable are the statistics we hear every day in the news and (especially these days) from the political campaigns? We’ll explore the true nature of statistics this hour with University of Delaware professor Joel Best, author of “Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data” (University of California Press, 2008).
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Where do science, morality and public policy intersect? Should they intersect? We’ll discuss the issue this hour with journalist and practicing psychotherapist Gary Greenberg, whose new book is “The Noble Lie: When Scientists Give the Right Answers for the Wrong Reasons” (Wiley, 2008).
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How should North Texas cities meet the public transportation needs of the near and distant future? We’ll spend this hour with engineer Alan Drake and Jay Kline, interim vice president of planning and development at DART. They both participated in last Friday’s SMU Environmental Science and Greater Dallas Planning Council symposium “Electrification of Transportation: Meeting Air Quality Standards, the Petroleum Challenge, and Public Transit Needs in the Metroplex.”
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What should American public schools be teaching and why aren’t they teaching it? We’ll talk this hour with Tony Wagner, co-director of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. His new book is “The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need – and What We Can Do about It” (Basic Books, 2008).
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What will it take to end the killing in Africa forever? We’ll talk this evening with John Prendergast, co-founder of the ENOUGH Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity. He’s in town to speak to the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth and SMU’s Human Rights Education Program. Diane Sikes, artist and education coordinator for the Dallas Contemporary will join us during the Scene segment to discuss the organization’s new youth outreach initiative, “artthink.”
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Have militarism, corporatism and unchecked executive power begun to undermine American democracy? We’ll talk this hour with award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. His new book is “The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril” (Free Press, 2008).
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What is “everyday life” like in China? Did the Olympic spotlight help or hurt the average Chinese citizen? We’ll spend this hour with journalist Leslie Chang, author of “FACTORY GIRLS: From Village to City in a Changing China” (Spiegel and Grau, 2008).
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What exactly has the National Security Agency been up to? How many Americans have been unknowingly subjected to its warrantless eavesdropping program? Is the program even legal? We’ll talk this hour with journalist James Bamford, author of the new book “The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America” (Doubleday, 2008).
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What does it really take to change and reform a city or even a country? What kind of person can get the job done? We’ll look back at one such figure this hour with Wendell E. Pritchett, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Office of Research, Planning and Policy for the City of Philadelphia. His new book is “Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City: The Life and Times of an Urban Reformer” (University of Chicago Press, 2008).
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How are the world’s corporations and governments responding to the rising sea levels, fires, floods and droughts caused by increasing global temperatures? We’ll talk this hour with Martin Smith, correspondent and producer of FRONTLINE’s “HEAT” which airs on KERA 13 tonight at 8pm.
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What goes on inside the mind of a successful screenwriter? We’ll (try to) find out this hour with Academy Award-winner Charlie Kaufman, whose films “Being John Malkovich,” “Human Nature,” “Adaptation,” “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” have captivated millions. His new film “Synecdoche, New York” opens Friday, November 7 at the Angelikas in Dallas and Plano.
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Why are political cartoons important? How did they get started? We’ll spend this hour with journalist and author Donald Dewey. His new book is “The Art of Ill Will: The Story of American Political Cartoons” (NYU Press, 2008).
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