Obama's Mid-East and European Tour; LA Times Book Review Folds; Don't Ask, Don't Tell?; The Olympics That Changed The World
Obama's Mid-East and European Tour
Senator Obama recently returned from a tour of Afghanistan, the Mid-East and Europe. Larry and political strategists Marc Cooper and Dan Schnur discuss whether the trip was a good campaign strategy and if it was appropriate for a Presidential candidate to meet with world leaders and the public abroad. They also explore how both Obama and McCain will target swing states and run their campaigns in the months leading up to the election.
LA Times Book Review Folds
After 33 years, the LA Times Sunday Book Review is being terminated. It was one of the few stand-alone book sections remaining in the country. What will its loss mean to readers and writers? Larry Mantle talks with David Ulin, Book Editor for the Los Angeles Times, about the change, and takes listener calls.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell?
In a hearing before the House Armed Services subcommittee last Wednesday, lawmakers examined the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the first time since the law was passed in 1993. Opponents of the policy told lawmakers that it harms the military by preventing otherwise qualified people from enlisting and by requiring highly trained personnel to be discharged. A number of recent polls show that Americans are in favor of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Larry talks with Aaron Belkin, Director of the Michael D. Palm Center (formerly the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities) and Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, about whether or not to reform the policy of banning homosexuals from the military.
The Olympics That Changed The World
Over the last century, the Olympics have become a global spectacle charged with the drama of international politics, protest, and commercial interest. In his new book, David Maraniss locates the emergence of the political and commercial Olympics in Rome 1960. The first ever to be televised, the Rome games also saw the rise of several prominent black athletes (including one very young Cassius Clay), the first Olympic doping scandal, and the first commercially sponsored Olympians. At the heart of the Cold War, Rome was also the site of Soviet-American spy games, which sometimes involved the athletes themselves. As we head into the Beijing games, David will be in studio with Larry to discuss the unique history of the 1960 Olympics and how the games came to be what they are today.