Listeners call in to share their air travel horror stories, rowing the Atlantic Ocean, a model to cut health care costs, and are public employee unions bankrupting the nation?
Air travel horror stories
Waaaaaaa! You've been there. It’s a red-eye flight, you’re trying to catch up on your reading or some sleep, but there’s a screeching two-year-old in the next seat. Is irritation just a part of life? Or should parents with young kids not fly? On this busiest travel day of the year, we ask: What are your biggest travel horror stories and airborne irritations?
Guest:
Candace Kolander, Coordinator of Air Safety, Health and Security, Association of Flight Attendants
Rowing the Atlantic
Roz Savage became the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean after 103 grueling days in 2005. After floundering in a high-profile job and picture-perfect marriage, she talks with Larry Mantle about discovering her own strength at sea.
Roz Savage, author of "Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean” (Simon & Schuster)
Models for cutting health care costs
The American health care system is the most expensive in the world, but far from the best. And bills pending in Congress are unlikely to cut costs or improve quality of care. In the Nov. 8 issue of New York Times Magazine, columnist David Leonhardt, looks at one model that might change things: Intermountain Healthcare, a network of hospitals and clinics in Utah and Idaho. What can be learned from Intermountain’s results-based, statistical treatment guidelines? And could these improvements be applied nationally?
Guests:
David Leonhardt, Economic Scene columnist at the New York Times
Theodore Marmor, Professor Emeritus of Public Management and Political Science at Yale University
Are public employee unions bankrupting the nation?
In his new book “Plunder,” Sacramento based investigative journalist Steven Greenhut argues that public workers earn more than other Americans and receive vastly superior benefits. Greenhut claims that outsized retirement pensions and benefits packages place a huge burden on state and federal treasuries, resulting in higher taxes and massive debt. Steven Greenhut goes toe-to-toe on public employee unions with Nick Barardino, general manager of the Orange County Employees Association.
Guests:
Steve Greenhut, author of “Plunder: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation” (The Forum Press)
Nick Berardino, General Manager of the Orange County Employees Association