On air: Lubna finishes medical school

On WHYS we’ve been following Lubna throughout her medical training- and next Thursday she reaches an important milestone. here’s the e-mail she sent us, which she has given us permission to reproduce here :

I’ll leave it to you to wish her good luck below..

Salaam to all of you guys from Baghdad, the city of pain, hope, and magic tales… How are things ? I do really hope and pray that all is perfectly OK with you and with all of your loved ones, Inshallah…

On air: Is Happiness a natural state ?

….and therefore if you aren’t happy, then you’re ill ?

Here’s an article that has got a lot of people talking from the New Yorker.

Louis Menand reviews a couple of new books which deal with the subject of  depression and writes :

“what has changed is not the number of people who are clinically depressed but the definition of depression, which has been defined in a way that includes normal sadness.”

Keith Alexander RIP

My second job in radio was as Sports Editor at Hereward Radio in Peterborough, eastern England. 

One of my jobs was to present  and produce the Friday preview show and my weekly guest to look at the region’s non-league matches was Keith Alexander, who died yesterday at the ridiculously young age of 53 .

On air: Four questions from Michael Sandel

Our special guest on today’s show -presented from Cornwall – is  Harvard Professor and Reith Lecturer Michael Sandel.

Here’s a few questions he’s putting to you :

Do you think the market should decide everything ?

On-Air : have you lost your faith in the Japan “brand” ?

Toyota president Akio Toyoda will be up in front of U.S politicians later today to talk about his firm’s safety problems.

We’ve discussed Toyota’s woes on this programme before but we’re seeing comments from some of you saying that this is undermining your faith in the “Made in Japan” label…

“Natural law ” ? or the law of the land ?

UPDATE :   

Peter (Dobbie) here with news of Europe Today on air 1700 GMT. Following on from the post below I wanted to let you know we’re discussing this news story on the show tonight as well.

We’ve been speaking to Rocco Buttiglione, an Italian MP, who’s very close to the Vaticans thinking on this. He has some very – er- forthright views. It’s a strong interview, and I’m sure you’ll find it thought provoking. Do let us know on ET what you think about this, or you can post here. Later :o)

*********                         Britain has an Equality Bill currently going through parliament.

The Government here says it’ll make this country a fairer place , protecting people from discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere.

The Pope doesn’t agree. He says :

“the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.”

A dog’s breakfast..

There are reports the Chinese are to take dogs (and cats) off their menus.

The regulations – if they are approved – have been 11 years in the making and anyone eating pets could face 15 days in jail.

The Thinkers..

On the left Professor Michael Sandel , below philosopher and “digital guru” Jaron Lanier. Both fascinating and original thinkers, writers and broadcasters, and  both soon to be guests on WHYS.

Professor Sandel delivered this year’s Reith Lectures which were, if i may declare a bias, a great and thought-provoking listen. Here’s a good example of him in action.

Media watch

LATEST : we’ll be discussing this on today’s show. I watched one British network last night who had their two main reporters with the anchor at the end and were told “well done and thanks” for covering the story. Another had a strap line “fears of food riots growing” even though there hadn’t been any.

Anyway,there’s been a lot of you commenting on the role of the media in Haiti.

This blogger for example questions the need for spaces on UN flights to go to journalists and wonders if it’s right to have “play-by-play” type reporting when someone is being dug out from the rubble.

A community of communities ?

This may surprise you but we’re always thinking of ways to make WHYS better, more effective and truly reflective of your views and opinions.

It’s right that we are in a state of permanent evolution, though it does mean sometimes we bite off more than we can chew, and i have to make sure we don’t spread ourselves too thinly, to mix metaphors horribly.