Amy Pearl

What to read? WNYC\'s Brian Lehrer searches for a good book before his vacation.

Brian Lehrer is getting ready to leave for a two-week vacation and he's asking for your help. What should he read or listen to? What current fiction are you reading and what new music are you listening to? Let's turn to the 'Brian Lehrer Community' for book and music picks!

See staff picks here

Listen to the callers' picks here:

And here is a sampling of what some of Brian's commentors had to say as well as some suggestions from Brian's Facebook page:

John from Brooklyn August 06, 2009 - 10:38AM
I highly recommend Jessica Anthony's novel 'The Convalescent.' If you want a Geek Love meets Hungarian tribal history type of story, this is for you. I actually wish I hadn't finished just so I can keep reading.
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Ashley Semrick DesRochers, Facebook
The album 'Disfarmer' by Bill Frisell. Tracks composed with inspiration from the depression era photographer Disfarmer... the result is stunning!

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Rachelle August 06, 2009 - 11:33AM
Bill Callahan's new album, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, is AMAZING. Mellow but lovely. Perfect for a relaxing drive along the coast.
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Emily Miller, Facebook
The Hour I First Believed--Wally Lamb--It is somewhat depressing, but you can get wrapped up in it. . .It's a nice long one for a two week vacation.
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Helen from East Harlem August 06, 2009 - 11:36AM
The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience by Kristin Downey.
Very readable and engaging nonfiction book about the first woman Cabinet member.
Frances Perkins was FDR' Sect. of Labor who helped us get Social Security, the minimum wage, safe work places, the end of child labor, CCC, WPA, and so on!
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Caitlin from Jersey City August 06, 2009 - 11:39AM
Aughh two whole Brianless weeks?!
Regina Spektor's new album is really great. Book: Liberation by Brian Francis Slattery - dystopian near-future hippy-novel-esque sci-fi.
Editor's Note: You can listen to an interview with Regina Spektor and hear her perform live on Soundcheck here

This weekend is the 3rd Annual Yo-Yo Open. The organizer of the event is yo-yo champion and former banker Pat Cuartero who stopped by the WNYC studios today to speak with host Brian Lehrer and ...

Nicholas Bakalar, the "Vital Signs" columnist for The New York Times, reveals surprising things you never realized you want to know about your body and your health. The Medicine Cabinet of Curiosities is a collection ...

Psychology professor Robert Feldman, one of the world's leading authorities on deception, offers insights into how and why we lie, and how our culture has become increasingly tolerant of deception. In his new book, The ...

Goldman Sachs posted records profits in the second quarter of this year. Matt Taibbi, political reporter for Rolling Stone argues in "The Great American Bubble Machine" that the investment bank has been involved in every ...

You like dogs. You like New York. Why not merge the two together? Nadia Zonis, New York editor of UrbanHound and author of City Walks with Dogs: New York, talks about city adventures for dog lovers.

Crystal

It's good to have rules!

Your body is a temple

Lana

According to the Centers for Disease Control, bacterial, viral, and parasitic organisms found in recreational water in the United States sicken thousands of people every year, and even result in deaths. Leonard Lopate speaks with chemist and industrial hygienist Monona Rossol about the protozoa, ...

How high do gas prices have to go before local produce becomes competitive with apples imported from New Zeland? Christopher Steiner, senior staff reporter at Forbes Magazine and the author of $20 PER GALLON: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will ...

Chris Anderson, editor of "Wired" magazine and author of FREE: The Future of a Radical Price, talks with Brian Lehrer about how the value of information and services is not always best tied to price. He envisions a future for journalism where paid employees ...

Alyssa Katz, journalist, professor of journalism at NYU and the author of Our Lot: How Real Estate Came to Own Us talks to Brian Lehrer about real estate mania and the mortgage crisis.

Listen to the entire interview:

Robert Sabbag survived the crash of Air New England flight 248, which went down on Cape Cod on June 17, 1979. He discusses what happened that night and the lasting emotional repercussions of the ...

Cairo, Egypt

(As prepared for delivery; not a transcript.)

I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.

Media thinker Doug Rushkoff discusses his new book Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back on the Brian Lehrer Show.

After something triggered the emergency power shutdown at WNYC's Varick Street studios, WNYC's local broadcast went off the air and was replaced by a feed from National Public Radio. Host Richard Hake then began broadcasting at NPR's New York City studios.

We are currently live on AM 820 and ...

Brian Lehrer and Brooke Gladstone discuss the new Star Trek movie and ask listeners what Star Trek means to them.

NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe talks about why Prospect Park is the perfect place for a Woodstock reunion concert, camping in the city parks (even for people who have place to sleep usually), canoeing on the Gowanus and more.

To listen to the complete ...

The Main Streets project is spending a year looking closely at six blocks around the region. Karen Frillmann, Brigid Bergin, and Elaine Rivera discuss the goals of the project, what they've learned so far, and ...

Wednesday Martin, author of Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do, talks about the challenges, myths, and realities of being a stepmother with Brian Lehrer.

The Brian Lehrer Show came to you live from the Greene Space on Tuesday May 5, 2009.

Economic Blues
Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, New York Times op-ed columnist, blogger, and the author of The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008