FRESH AIR
It’s been a busy congressional season — contentious hearings with Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez in the hot seat, revisions to the nation’s domestic-eavesdropping laws, major ethics-reform moves and of course debate about what to do about Iraq. Journalist Carl Hulse, who reports on Congress for The New York Times,
reviews the legislative session. ALSO, Fresh Air‘s critic says Steve Buscemi‘s new film Interview — a remake of a two-character psychodrama by murdered Dutch director Theo van Gogh — isn’t politically incendiary, but it’s powerfully dramatic.
RADIO TIMES
Hour 1
Will Rupert Murdoch redefine business journalism? This October, News Corp will launch the Fox Business Network to compete head-to-head with CNBC. And Murdoch also reached a deal to buy The Wall Street Journal. We look at how these changes could impact how the media covers business news. Our guests are JON FINE the media critic for Business Week magazine and ANDREW LECKEY, the director of the National Center for Business Journalism based at Arizona State University.
Hour 2
(Rebroadcast tonight at 11)
How safe are Pennsylvania’s bridges? A 2005 report on Pennsylvania’s infrastructure showed that 42 % of the State’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and it has about eight billion dollars in deferred bridge maintenance. Our guests are JOSEPH MARTIN, a professor of geotechnical engineering at Drexel University, and with CHARLES DAVIES, the assistant district executive for design for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s south-eastern region.
THE WORLD CAFE
Sinead O’Connor joins World Cafe host David Dye in Pittsburgh for the “Week at the Warhol” to discuss her latest album, Theology. This two-disc release is her response to world affairs since September 11th, 2001. O’Connor creates an eclectic mix of contemporary covers, original songs, and traditional hymns. Stripped-down arrangements of the tracks appear on the first disc and are transformed on the second into roaring pop-rock.
SINEAD O’CONNOR: Nothing Compares 2 U