FRESH AIR
With the moderating, centrist voice of Sandra Day O’Connor now gone from the Supreme Court, a conservative
counterrevolution that had been stymied for 20 years has now begun. So says Jeffrey Toobin in his new book The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. His book is about how this counterrevolution developed. It’s also a behind-the-scenes look at the court, its recent decisions and the personalities of the justices behind them.
The Nine is based on interviews with justices and their law clerks that were given on a not-for-attribution basis — meaning, in plain language, that Toobin heard stories, opinions and analyses directly from the horses’ mouths, but isn’t allowed to reveal who said what. Toobin is senior legal analyst for CNN, staff writer at The New Yorker and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney.
One of his best-selling books was about the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore — the ruling that stopped the Florida recount in the contested 2000 presidential election. That decision allowed Florida’s certification of Bush’s victory to stand ? which put Bush over the top in electoral votes, making him president. In The Nine, Toobin retells the story from the perspective of the court, and comes up with some revealing new stories.
RADIO TIMES
Hour 1
How much of a threat is the sub-prime meltdown to the U.S. economy? We’ll talk with two leading economists on the state of economy and Whether yesterday’s Fed rate cut can turn things around, and whether past Fed Chair Alan Greenspan fueled the sub-prime lending by keeping interest rates low. We’ll talk with BILL DUNKELBERG, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business and MARK ZANDI chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
Hour 2
The relationship between U.S. and France and the story of the friendship between two of each country’s early leaders — Washington and Lafayette. Marty hosts author James Gaines whose new book is For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette and their Revolutions. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3
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THE WORLD CAFE
Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, the New Pornographers are a sort of indie-rock supergroup with a dizzying number of members, most of whom are active in other music groups or solo careers. Primary songwriter A.C. Newman performed in the Canadian band Zumpano and his solo release The Slow Wonder was released by Matador Records. Guitarist Dan Bejar and vocalist Neko Case have their own efforts as well. Still, the New Pornographers haven’t been too distracted to keep putting out material. The group has released three albums of material in two years, the most recent being last year’s Twin Cinema. In an interview, Newman talks about the “supergroup” label, trying to change their sound for their third album and writing the nonsense chorus to the song “The Bleeding Heart Show.”
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS: Sing Me Spanish Techno