Laura Knoy

Next week on the Exchange, we begin with iconic food writer and activist Francis Moore Lappe, whose nineteen-seventies book Diet for a Small Planet changed the way many think about how they eat.  We'll talk with her about the similarities and struggles between world hunger and the local food movement.   Then a roundtable of Granite Staters with ties to Syria joins us, to discuss their concerns over the horrific violence and political turmoil in that country.  Then later on, we look at the pro’s and con’s of New Hampshire’s  heavy reliance on property taxes and look at how the property tax i

We're evaluating Mental Health Care in New Hampshire.  Once considered a model system, the state’s services have come under harsh scrutiny, prompting one group to sue on behalf of patients. State officials acknowledge problems but point to shrinking dollars, while lawmakers claim budgetary constraints that just won’t budge. We check up on what’s ailing this system and what might fix it.

Guests:

Louis Josephson, CEO of Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord and

Today, we sit down with New Hampshire’s Education Commissioner Virginia Barry.  We’ll talk with her about recent questions concerning the Federal No Child Left Behind law, and whether New Hampshire should seek a waiver.  Also, we'll examine recent bills in the Legislature aimed at increasing parental control over instruction and a possible education funding amendment.  

Guest

• Virginia Barry - Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education

Recent debates over the new health care law and rules over refugee settlements have been challenged by states, including New Hampshire. Meanwhile several bills by the Granite state legislature, would overturn certain authorities of towns and school boards. We’ll see who can write the rules and where the lines are drawn.

Guests:

We talk to the author of a new book who says that Americans spend too much, save too little and borrow excessively and that we might look to countries in Europe and East Asia, where governments encourage thrift and saving rates are much higher.  We’ll examine the financial habits of people on three continents over two centuries and what we might learn from it. 

Guests

• Sheldon Garon - Professor of History at Princeton University and author of “Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves”

According to our guest today, Colin Woodard, America's political divisions aren't between red states and blue states, right and left, Republicans and Democrats but between 11 distinct North American cultural regions.  They are regions the he names "Yankeedom", "Greater Appalachia", "The Deep South" and "The Far West" and they have been created by centuries of Americans who settled there, each with their own unique cultures, religions, political traditions and ethnographic characteristics.  Woodard suggests that only by truly understanding these regions can we begin to see beyond these deep 

Next week on the Exchange, we begin with a favorite from the Exchange archive vault, as we listen back to our show with author Colin Woodward on his book "American Nation".  Then we talk to author Sheldon Garon, who says  that Americans save too little, spend too much and borrow way more than our European and Asian counterparts. Then recent debates over the new health care and refugee settlements have some state politicians defying federal rules.

In his state-of-the-state speech, Governor Lynch made it clear that he’d like to see a change to the Constitution,  setting out how New Hampshire pays for public schools. Similar efforts have failed before, sometimes over the meaning of a single word or phrase.   We’ll look at this latest attempt, the arguments around it, and whether this year is the year an amendment is approved. 

Guests

The state legislature is once again looking at whether the Granite State should join twenty-three others in adopting so-called “right to work legislation” which governs unionization.   But this effort narrowly failed last  year, and this year, opposition remains strong.  We’ll talk with two national experts about  the economics and politics of “right to work”.   

Guests

An agreement involving national banks and state attorneys general penalizes banks for improper mortgage and foreclosure practices and offers relief for homeowners. Yet some say it leaves far too many without recourse. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has another plan to offer further help. We’ll see how these initiatives might affect New Hampshire. 

Guests

Will Defense cuts hit home in New Hampshire?  As a national conversation begins over military base closures, there’s a possibility that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard could be on the list.  Seven years ago, that was the case but a fierce fight helped save the Shipyard.  We’ll look at how this federal process is starting up and how “at risk” Portsmouth may be this time around.

Guests

Many say upward mobility isn't what it used to be in America, especially for those at the bottom of the economic ladder, and that the U. S. has become a less mobile society than other advanced nations. Still, skeptics point out that the country has grown wealthier overall, leading to higher incomes for new generations, even if they don’t move up in the class system. 

Guests

Once again, lawmakers are looking at bills to increase gambling options in New Hampshire.  With more gaming sites opening up in  Maine and Massachusetts some say that’s a reason to expand here, while opponents say just the opposite.  Meanwhile, Governor Lynch says he’s not willing to “make a bet” on gambling, making the reality of casinos in the Granite State tougher, but not impossible for this cause.

Guests

Next week on the Exchange, we begin with a look at the issue of class in this country and why some say that “American dream” of rags to riches is more elusive than ever.  Then, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, as a national conversation begins over base closures; we’ll discuss the possibility of Portsmouth being on that list.  We'll look at the mortgage market and then end week with the debate over the latest iteration of a constitutional amendment on Education Funding.  Join us all next week for the Exchange each morning at 9/and again at 8 pm, here on NHPR!

With neighboring Vermont and Maine now allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their sick patients, a new bill with the same goal is afoot in New Hampshire. But it has an uphill battle as  recent similar proposals have failed before.  We’ll get the latest on the discussion here, and see how Maine and Vermont are doing, since medical marijuana was approved. 

Guests