What's on Kushibo's iPod: miscellaneous Newshour pieces

All right, this is what's left for now, the stuff that doesn't fit into the economic, military, and political categories. At least not exactly. A lot of environmental stuff and education-related stories (for which I should make their own category in the future).

The first one, about a touching documentary on North Korean refugees and how they escape, is worth looking at as a preview to the actual documentary, which is a must-see.

• 'Kimjongilia' Film Highlights Harrowing Stories of Escape From North Korea

• Classroom Culprits? Invasive Crayfish Threaten Western Waterways

• Laura Bush, Melinda Gates, CARE President on Women's Issues, U.S. Foreign Aid

• Transportation Secretary: Electronic Issue Not Cause of Toyota Recall Woes

• Chicagoland Students See Success Hitting the Gym, Then Hitting the Books

• In California, a Rescue Mission for 'Iconic' Franciscan Manzanita Plant

• Big Sky Country Struggles With Yellowstone Oil Spill Aftermath

• Oil Spill Probe Reveals Need to Balance Precautions, Profits

• After Haiti Quake, Using Science to Build Sturdier Buildings

• Robert MacNeil on Jim Lehrer's 'Stealth' Exit

• The Films Are Alive With the Art of Foley

• Photographer Alec Soth on a Life of Approaching Strangers

• New York Times' Brantley Previews Upcoming Theater Season

• Weekly Poem: 'The Winter's Wife'

• Abigail Washburn Uses Banjo as Tool for Diplomacy

What's on Kushibo's iPod: the Newshour economic reader

I'm still in the process of clearing out my SAVE list on iTunes. These are podcasts — almost all of the Newshour pieces — that I think are worth a listen (or a viewing, since they're actually original from television). The first few are very recent, although toward the bottom some of the are from much earlier in the year, when Obama's presidency was just around two years old but the Republicans were already beginning to say he'd been in charge for "almost three years." 

• What Happens if Lawmakers Don't Reach Debt-Ceiling Deal by Deadline?

• Obama's $86 Million Haul Leaves GOP Competitors Far Behind

• Strategic Default: Immoral or Not?

• Is a College Diploma Worth the Soaring Student Debt?

• 'Last In, First Out' Among Teacher Layoff Policies Under Scrutiny

• Chrysler Pays Back Billions in Bailout Loans: Is the Comeback Complete?

• Rand Paul: 'Our Whole Economy Is Equal to Our Debt Now'

• Tax Breaks for Oil Companies: Good for Business or Unfair Advantage?

• Oscar-Winning 'Inside Job' Director Attacks Economists' Ties to Financial Sector

• Ode to Germany: Merle Hazard, Backed by Beethoven

• Making Sen$e: 'Feelin' Lousy' - Financially Groovy In Song

What's on Kushibo's iPod (July 11, 2011 edition)

Every now and then I like to share what I'm listening to on my iPod Shuffle during my daily run. All of today's are from PBS's Newshour, what I consider to be the single best program for getting a thought-provoking, informative, and (most importantly) objective perspective on a wide breadth of political and social issues of the day.

• North Koreans Risk Lives to Escape Via Underground Railroad

• Bachmann Enters GOP Field With Jolt of Tea Party Energy

• PBS NewsHour: Huntsman Joins GOP 2012 Field, Touting Varied Resume, Hobbies

• After N.Y. Passes Same-Sex Marriage Law, What's Next for Proponents, Foes?

• Ghana Looks to Give Citizens a Voice in Their Economic Future

• 'Just One More Thing': Remembering Peter Falk, TV's 'Columbo'

• Obama on Afghan War Drawdown: 'The Tide of War Is Receding'

• Al Gore's Critique Sparks Debate Over Obama's Record on Global Warming

• Cigarette Warnings Get Graphic, but Will Smokers Be Deterred?

• Amid Push for Talks With Taliban, Where Do Rights of Afghan Women Fit In?

• Boeing Battle: Was Dreamliner Move to S.C. Legal or Strike Retaliation?'

• Sesame Street' Tells You How to Get to Sunnier Days Financially

• Apple Unveils New iCloud Music Service, but Privacy Issues May Lurk

• Why Does Yale Cost $55,000 a Year?

• 'Up in Smoke' Film Examines Perils of Slash and Burn Agriculture

• Self-Controlled Kids Prosper as Adults: 'Fatalistically Depressing'?

• Twitter Is Everywhere Now, but Can It Make Money?

• Puerto Rico Gov. Fortuño on Obama Visit, Ongoing Statehood Debate

• Broadway Holds Its Breath as 'Spider-Man' Musical Officially Debuts

• 'Fracking' for Natural Gas Continues to Raise Health Concerns

What's on Kushibo's iPod (July 10, 2011 edition)

Every now and then I like to share what I'm listening to on my iPod Shuffle during my daily run. Most of it is from PBS's Newshour, what I consider to be the single best program for getting a thought-provoking, informative, and (most importantly) objective perspective on a wide breadth of political and social issues of the day. Others are from other public broadcasting shows, lately I've been listening a lot to On the Media, which has a unique perspective as well.

• FCC Report says Local Reporting in Crisis

• The Echo Chamber Revisited Transcript

• Oceans Face Mass Extinctions, New Report Warns

• Condolence Letter Policy Shift Opens Conversation on Military Suicides

• Computing “That’s What She Said”

• Schoolhouse Shock: Report Finds Widespread Cheating by Atlanta Educators

• N.Y. Teacher Takes Students on a Virtual Trip to Learn Realities of Refugee Life

• Raze the Roof: Cleveland Levels Vacant Homes to Revive Neighborhoods

• Vietnam's 'Haunting' of Post-War Presidents Explored in New Book

• 'My Perestroika' Reveals Personal History of Last Soviet Generation

• Cambodia Teaches New Generation About Khmer Rouge Atrocities

• How an English Investor Dabbled in Cleveland Real Estate...and Got Burned

• The Dramatic Re-Enactment (this one mentions Korea)

• Protecting Its Fannie: How Mortgage Giant Primed the Bubble, Covered Its Assets

The Big List: PBS Newshour segments worth listening to (March 2, 2011 edition)

In my daily runs I listen mostly to PBS NewsHour, and I make a note of individual stories I'd like to blog about. They either carry some key information, delve into an important issue in a smart way, or give a very comprehensive overview of some issue.

Unfortunately, my blogging time has been limited lately, so I decided to just clear these on out. Take a listen to these if you have time. Download them to your iPod or whatever.

• Discovery's Launch Marks Beginning of End for NASA Shuttle Program (Feb. 24, 2011)
• With family members having worked extensively on the Space Shuttle, it holds a special place in my heart. 

• Govs. Daniels, Schweitzer on Looming Federal Government Shutdown (Feb. 25, 2011)

• Shields, Brooks on Collective Bargaining's Future, Shutdown Chances, Libya (Feb. 25, 2011)

• For Somali Pirates, Killing 4 U.S. Hostages an Abnormal Action (Feb. 22, 2011)
• This provides a good overview of who the hostages are and why it's hard to track them down.

• For Egypt's Women, Harassment Remains Part of Daily Life (Feb. 21, 2011)
• I should blog on this later: It's a story that, in light of the sexual assault on CBS's Lara Logan, it highlights the routine sexual harassment that Egyptian women must endure.

• Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'I've Got a Lot of Problems With the President's Budget' (Feb. 16, 2011)
• This gives a good overview of what liberal Democrats think is wrong with President Obama's budget (though Sanders is actually an independent). 

• A: This Computer Could Defeat You at 'Jeopardy!' Q: What is Watson? (Feb. 14, 2011)

• Social Media and Satellite TV: A One-Two Punch Against Mubarak (Feb. 14, 2011)
• Though the Jasmine Revolution has finished washing over Egypt, this gives insight into the technological factors that made the movement possible.

• How-To Economics: Irrational Assurance Tips for Valentine's Day

• Chicagoland Students See Success Hitting the Gym, Then Hitting the Books (Feb. 11, 2011)

David Brooks on "The Gospel of Wealth"

In my daily three-mile jogs runs, my iPod plays NPR News's 7 a.m. broadcast, the New York Times's Front Page podcast, and the PBS "Newshour" podcasts that most interest me. In today's America, where many say that the "mainstream media" is too liberal and that Faux News (with all its distortions, outright fabrications, and focus on non-issues) is a necessary antidote, I say give PBS's news programs a shot, particularly "Newshour." Politically balanced, relevant, thorough, comprehensive, and substantive. Edifying and decidedly un-shrill.

David Brooks often represents the conservative side in discussions, usually positioned against "liberal" counterpart Mark Shields of the Washington Post. Actually both are somewhat moderate, and I while I find myself agreeing more often with the left-of-center Mr Shields, I learn a lot from right-of-center Mr Brooks.

And thus it is no surprise to me that I enjoyed this column by Mr Brooks, on how America's runaway love of wealth may be pulling the country away from its values, that I sent it to my mom. The same mom who chides me for taking too long in grad school and not going after the big bucks and the big house like my siblings or cousins have, something she has admitted to me she sees as some sort of failure. (Never mind that I may actually be happier than my siblings or cousins, saddled with far less debt since I'm not living so far outside of my means).

Anyway, a snippet:

The tension between good and plenty, God and mammon, became the central tension in American life, propelling ferocious energies and explaining why the U.S. is at once so religious and so materialist. Americans are moral materialists, spiritualists working on matter.

[Minister David Platt] is in the tradition of those who don’t believe these two spheres can be reconciled. The material world is too soul-destroying. “The American dream radically differs from the call of Jesus and the essence of the Gospel,” he argues. The American dream emphasizes self-development and personal growth. Our own abilities are our greatest assets.

But the Gospel rejects the focus on self: “God actually delights in exalting our inability.” The American dream emphasizes upward mobility, but “success in the kingdom of God involves moving down, not up.”

Platt calls on readers to cap their lifestyle. Live as if you made $50,000 a year, he suggests, and give everything else away. Take a year to surrender yourself. Move to Africa or some poverty-stricken part of the world. Evangelize.

Platt’s arguments are old, but they emerge at a postexcess moment, when attitudes toward material life are up for grabs. His book has struck a chord. His renunciation tome is selling like hotcakes. Reviews are warm. Leaders at places like the Southern Baptist Convention are calling on citizens to surrender the American dream.

I don't expect any of my relatives to give up or give away their Lincoln Navigator (so named because when you drive it you feel like you're piloting a boat) anytime soon, but I hope they'll at least consider a Honda CR-V or a Hyundai Santa Fe the next time around.