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Fat is the American condition. We are a super-sized nation. Of our population, 62% are overweight, 26% are obese. That leaves millions of oversized Americans living large and fueling a multibillion-dollar diet industry that thrives on failure.

We fight fat. We laugh at fat. We surrender to fat. Beyond the endless how-to advice for shedding pounds and medical warnings of the health risks, jokes still make up the bulk of our national conversation about weight. Fat remains the last bastion of acceptable bias in this country.

In the United States, we celebrate tolerance, diversity, and lifestyles of all shapes and sizes, but fat people remain the big butts of cruel jokes and discrimination. The massive majority gets the short shrift on respect. Listen in for the skinny on the health and social hazards of fat
(Hosted by John Donvan)

Guests:

Marilyn Wann, author of “Fat!So?”

Dr. David Ludwig, Director of the Obesity Program at Children’s Hospital in Boston, and TBA.

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They’re sweeping up and mopping bloodstains in Genoa today, but the battle over wealth and power in the 21st century is just beginning. Beyond the G8 and teargas, beyond anti-globalism and American triumphalism, there’s a radical vision of the world that is suddenly being hailed as the next “big idea.”

It’s called Empire. Its authors say Empire is bigger than you and me, bigger than any nation, any power, and bigger, perhaps, than God. They say it’s already shaping the way we work, the way we love and move, and the way we dream. Think imperial Rome, only larger and wired.

Empire is a hyped-up techno world where the multitudes are restless, where there’s no Caesar in sight, nor in charge, and where revolution is in the air. You wanted a New World Order? Well, here it comes. Call it Empire.
(Hosted by Tom Askbrook)

Guests:

Michael Hardt, co-author with Antonio Negri, of “Empire.”