"Bad Bank" (#375 from 3/1/09): Where the economic crisis is explained in layman's terms. One very poignant moment came when Columbia business school professor David Beim stated the following:
What is happening to us is something that goes way beyond toxic assets in banks. It's something that has little to do with the mechanics of mortgage securitization, or ethics on Wall Street, or anything else. It says the problem is us. The problem is not the banks, greedy though they may be, overpaid though they may be. The problem is us. We have over-borrowed, we have been living very high on the hog. Our standard of living has risen dramatically in the last 25 years and we have been borrowing much of the money to make that prosperity happen."Scenes from a Recession" (#377 from 3/29/09): Where they focus on odd stories stemming from the recession, including how condo owners are banding together despite the problems caused by vacancies in their building (like feral cats, sinking foundations and leaking roofs) and how the FDIC takes over a bank.
I was able to catch up on all of these during my road trip from AZ to CA. Listening to a bunch of them at the same time can be overwhelming, but they are so well done that they often build on themes raised in other programs creating a multi-layered reflection on current events.
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