What’s the state of the union? NPR's Ombudsman, Alicia Shepard. Renewing the debate over electroshock therapy. What is fear?
SOTU – President Obama’s steps to winning the future
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama laid out a hopeful vision for America's future in an era of divided government. "Now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable," Obama said, highlighting positive economic growth. Throughout the speech, the President struck a conciliatory and centrist tone, carefully avoiding left-right political pitfalls. The President called for big spending cuts to reduce the deficit, but also for investments to make America more competitive. “We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,” he said. On health care, President Obama defended the new law, but extended an olive branch to conservatives suggesting lawmakers work together to fix any flaws. Will the President’s centrist approach bring lawmakers together or alienate both sides? Was it a Sputnik moment for the President or a successful strategy?
Guests:
Kitty Felde, Washington D.C. correspondent for KPCC
Xavier Becerra, US Congressman (D-31); Vice-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Dana Rohrabacher, US Congressman (R-46); includes Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach and portions of Long Beach
Ashley Ingram, Executive Director of Young Republican Federation of California
John Nichols, Washington Correspondent for The Nation
NPR’s ombudsman takes the hot seat to answer your questions & complaints
NPR was the first broadcast news organization in the U.S. to create an ombudsman position. Alicia Shepard took on the job in October 2007. During her tenure, she’s been responsible for bringing transparency to the editorial decision-making process, addressing listener concerns and explaining NPR to listeners – and vice versa. Her term is up in March, so she’ll be leaving the network soon. But first, she joins us in studio to review and respond to some of NPR’s highs and lows over the last couple years. Earlier this month, NPR erroneously reported the death of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, misinforming the public and causing the family additional pain. How did that happen? What steps – if any – were taken to avoid that kind of mistake in the future? What was in that report on the firing of Juan Williams and what impact will it have in the future? Is NPR fair and balanced in its coverage of hot button topics like the Middle East and the Tea Party? The Ombudsman is here to answer your questions and criticisms about policies at NPR.
Guest:
Alicia Shepard, NPR Ombudsman
Republicans aren’t from Mars or Uranus - or are they?
Ordinarily, Republicans and Democrats sit together en masse on their respective sides of the aisle during the State of the Union address. But in the wake of the Tucson tragedy, lawmakers agreed to mix it up, in hopes of projecting a greater sense of unity and civility before the U.S. public. The bipartisan seating plan has been jokingly referred to as “Date Night,” leading reporters to ask lawmakers, “Who are you going with?” This morning, NPR’s Mara Liason reported on the seating arrangement. In her report, Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman said sitting next to a Republican isn’t really a new experience. What he said next, we felt, deserved a follow-up question or two.
Guest:
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-CA's 27th District, which includes the west San Fernando Valley cities of Sherman Oaks, Reseda, Northridge, and Porter Ranch
Renewing the debate over electroshock therapy
Many people are most familiar with electro-convulsive shock therapy from the movie One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In the film, the treatment is portrayed as cruel and barbaric. But physicians who support ECT say in its modern form it is an effective, painless, and safe treatment for extreme cases of depression. The Food and Drug Administration, in fact, is considering downgrading the treatment’s risk classification. But opponents of ECT say the procedure seriously damages the brain, causing prolonged memory loss. Some are even calling for a full ban. What’s the reality of this controversial procedure? Have you, or someone you know, experienced it first hand?
Guest:
Dr. Peter R. Breggin, a psychiatrist in Ithaca, New York and author of Brain Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshock and the Psycho-pharmaceutical Complex
Dr. Helen Lavretsky, Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA
This is your brain – without fear
Snakes, spiders, heights, enclosed spaces, or a suspicious-looking character lurking in a dark alley, we all experience fear. But what is fear? For that matter, what is courage? Is it a lack of fear, or an ability to overcome it? Researchers at the University of Iowa, the California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California are finding answers to these fundamental questions by, in part, studying a test subject with a lesion on her amygdala, a part of the brain. She can be startled or surprised and she knows what danger is in an intellectual sense, but she has no sensation of fear. Neurobiologists have discovered that if they intentionally damage the amygdala of monkeys, they will literally play with snakes instead of staying clear of them. What does this say about our cultural definitions of “coward” or “courage?” And what implications does it have for returning war veterans and others suffering from the crippling fear associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
Guest:
Justin Feinstein, a clinical neuropsychologist involved in studying a patient with a missing amygdala at the University of Iowa, currently doing a clinical internship at the VA hospital at the University of California in San Diego