Is America Growing Itself to Destruction?

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America's continuing drive for material well-being has made it the world’s colossus, but it may also contain the seeds of destruction.  Will unlimited economic growth be the undoing—not just of America, but the rest of the world? Also, secret DOJ memos on interrogation, and America's latest counterinsurgency weapon in Iraq and Afghanistan--anthropology.

Making News

Bush Responds to DOJ Terror Memos ()

Yesterday's New York Times revealed the existence of two previously secret Justice Department memos on techniques for interrogating suspected terrorists.  Contrary to public statements calling torture "abhorrent," they explicitly authorized head-slapping, simulated drowning and exposure to extreme cold. After Democrats demanded to see them, President Bush repeated his insistence that "the US does not torture." Scott Shane is one of the authors of yesterday's story.

Guests:

• Scott Shane: staff writer for the New York Times

Main Topic

Do We Have Too Much? ()

America's continuing drive for material well-being has made it the world's colossus, but it may also contain the seeds of destruction. That sounds like fire-and-brimstone preaching, but it's also a warning from pragmatic experts on energy independence and global warming. Will unlimited economic growth be the undoing—not just of America, but the rest of the world? If it wanted to, could the US just slow down and replace the drive for disposable luxury with a yen for quality and longevity based on renewable resources?

Guests:

• David Freeman: former Board Member, California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority
• Tom Donlan: Editorial Page Editor, Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly
• Steve Glenn: CEO, LivingHomes
• Robert H. Frank: Economist, Cornell University

Links:

• Falling Behind, by Robert Frank
• Freeman's Book
• Green doesn't mean sacrificing lifestyle: Crist

Reporter's Notebook

Anthropologists Help Military in Afghanistan, Iraq ()

The Pentagon has deployed some very different kinds of soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Military officers say that anthropologists and other social scientists are making their jobs easier. Today's New York Times reports on what it calls "a crucial new weapon in counterinsurgency operations" in Afghanistan: "a soft spoken civilian anthropologist named Tracy.  Pulitzer Prize-winner David Rohde, who wrote the story, explains how it all works as well as the controversy in academic circles over what some denounce as "mercenary anthropology."

Guests:

• David Rohde: Reporter for the New York Times

Host

Warren Olney

Considered the dean of Southern California broadcast journalists, Warren tackles the issues Southern Californians care about. Expanding that concept, To the Point deals with issues of national concern and is on air in most major metropolitan markets across the country. On any day, you’ll hear a fast-paced, news-based talk show featuring multiple perspectives on a single major issue, with Newsmaker and Reporters Notebook features, as well. 

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Produced by

Frances Anderton, Christian Bordal, Dan Konecky

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