The Exchange

No matter how much you love a candidate's jobs plan, their ideas around health care, their environmental platform or their views on immigration, if you want a Republican in the White House and they can't beat the President, it may not be the best choice.  Some of that has to do with familiarity of the candidate, some has to do with money, and some has to do with those platforms and how they not only counter the President's but fall in favor with many independents who may be on the fence.

"Skating on thin ice" is the way one New Hampshire economist describes the current state of our economy.  New Hampshire is still out performing other states in terms of its unemployment rate and the stability of its housing market, but economic troubles in Europe could mean bad news for the Granite State which relies very much on exports.  Also some worry that if the national economy doesn't gain a lot of momentum, New Hampshire's economy could be compromised.  Today we look at the New Hampshire economy, examine the good news and not so good news and ask whether 2012 may be the turnaround y

Next week on the Exchange we culminate our Issue Tuesday's series on a Monday as we look at the Republican Presidential candidates and how the topic of how electable they are may play into who the voters choose at the ballot box.  Then on Primary Day, we talk to author Colin Woodard on his new book "American Nation" and explore how  he says, our political differences as Americans are not determined by red states and blue states but 11 distinct cultural North American regions that's histories have formed our true divisions.

Two recent reports examined the impact of this Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI on New Hampshire. One touts the energy savings that have come from the program, the other suggests that the Granite State may not be benefiting as much as other participating states. We’ll look closer at these two studies and how they may play into bills aimed at repealing or revising RGGI this year in the legislature.  

Guests

It was a nail-biter at last night's Iowa Caucuses. After a year of campaigning, debating, promises and political ads, voting began for the twenty twelve Republican presidential candidate.  A too close to call race went well into this morning with Mitt Romney squeaking out an 8 vote victory from Rick Santorum.  Ron Paul came in a healthy third and Newt Gingrich a disappointing fourth. Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann will both re-evaluate their campaigns.  We’ll look at the results and how they may affect the discussion in New Hampshire’s primary and other contests down the road.  

Our issue Tuesday series continues with the Republican Presidential Candidates and their fiscal policies.  The soaring national debt has been a rallying cry among republicans, who see it as a top economic threat.  We’ll examine what the candidates are saying about government spending, debt and deficits…as well as entitlement reform, programs like Social security and Medicare.

Guests

In a new book, author Charles Mann explores what happened in the years after Columbus’s famed voyage to the Americas.  He says it altered everything:  sparking a new era of globalization and not just in commerce:  but radical changes in crops, cultures, and politics.  We’ll talk with Mann about this expansive look at this new era and how the world changed after Columbus.  

Guests

• Charles C. Mann - Author of 1493:Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

Next week on the Exchange, we kick off the new year with a favorite from our archive vault as we talk with author Charles Mann on his book 1493.  Then our Issue Tuesday's series continues with a look at where the GOP candidates stand on fiscal policy and such issues as taxation, entitlement spending, and the national debt. We follow up on the results of the Iowa caucus and what they might mean for the New Hampshire Primary, and we get an update and outlook on the Granite State’s economy.   

Today it's our New Hampshire Newsmakers of the Year show, the 2011 edition. From the economy to the primary, from battles over the budget to extreme weather, we'll look at some of the top stories of the year, see what's happened to those stories since the headlines have died and see how they may play out in the coming year.

Topics and Guests

When immigrants and refugees come to a new country like America, they are often cut off from their homeland, their loved ones and their culture. Often they are required, even at very young ages, to navigate a tangled web of bureaucracies and to adapt rapidly to new settings. Many newcomers find resources that help them make the transition to their new lives in New Hampshire yet others may find those resources lacking. We listen to firsthand accounts of the struggles involved in coming to the Granite State.

Guests:

In recent years, children are arriving from new countries, bringing diversity but also new challenges.  Many don’t speak English and some aren’t literate in their own language.  We talk with people in the education system and folks dealing with foreign born newcomers on a daily basis and ask how they are working to overcome these issues.

Guests:

June Tumlin: Department Head of the English Learner program at Manchester Central High School

Thomas Sica: Principal of Rundlett Middle School in Concord

Healthcare delivery is complicated enough without language barriers, financial difficulties and cultural misunderstandings. Being a newcomer in a strange country presents many new challenges but healthcare is one of the most difficult to overcome. We take a look at the myriad obstacles the foreign born population face, and what some local healthcare providers are doing to help overcome them.

Guests:

We’re looking at the history of immigration as a part of NHPR’s year long series on New Hampshire’s Immigration Story. In the early days it was French Canadians and Irish who arrived, at the turn of the last century Greeks and Eastern Europeans and today, new arrivals from Brazil, to Burundi to Bhutan. We’re looking at who came, why they came and the little known stories around our immigration history.

Guests:

David Watters: Professor of English at UNH, where he is the director of the center for New England culture.

The London Sunday Telegraph once proclaimed Charles Dickens as "The Man who Invented Christmas" and his timeless story "A Christmas Carol", the main reason why. Written in London in 1843, at a time of expanding urbanization and industrialization, and a declining interest in old customs and ceremonies, "A Christmas Carol" with Scrooge, Cratchit, Tiny Tim and a host of ominous ghosts, helped its readers find the true spirit of Christmas and look back nostalgically at the old time Christmas traditions of friends, family, fun and frivolity.