Weekend-worthy topics... And what will you be talking about?

So you're standing around at a party or milling about some shindig and you want to have a conversation, not small talk. We've all been there, so hey, here are my picks for some interesting public radio topics to break the ice or may just be items of interest. Share yours in the comments, it is practically a public service!

MPR: Get on the bus, Gus. Twin Cities bus system to get security upgrade

No need to crack jokes about "Murder Transit".  You may know the Twin Cities Metro Transit from such media coverage as Crime rides the bus. The discussion here on Gather centered around the question: How can we reduce crime on public transit?

To tap:

• Why is it people who won't ride a bus love riding trains / light rail?
• What is the caaa-raaayy-eeee-issst thing that's happened to you on the bus? [Don't have one? Try Bus Tales, an independent site.]
• Go deep: Talk about Transportation Infrastructure...get background from The History Channel's America on the Move series.

NPR: ABC to Explore 'D.C. Madam' Case

Well that conversation could go off the rails quickly, but there's a gem. You'll have to wait for it...

Background: alleged Washington, D.C., madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey faces some charming charges including money laundering and racketeering. Her assets? Frozen.

Quote from the NPR article:

"I believe there is something very, very rotten at the core of my circumstance," Palfrey told reporters on the steps of a federal courthouse in Washington this week. "And without money to hire my own investigators, I must rely on your acumen and talent in the press and the media to uncover the truth."

Journalists dig, right? I don't think Palfrey is looking for coverage treatment offered up by The Smoking Gun. At any rate, ABC got the first crack at Palfrey's phone bills as a way to uncover the truth. Here's the gem:

[ABC News correspondent Brian Ross] says private citizens and minor government figures aren't fair game. But he says those clients of the escort service with powerful jobs — or who have taken strong public stands on morality — are newsworthy.

Oh reeeeeeeeallllly. To tap:

• Expound morally = a target on your back?
• Where's the line between minor gov't figures and "powerful" ones?
• Why don't people use pay phones or disposable cell phones to ring er... adult or other services they wouldn't want their mothers to know about?

MPR: In the Loop: Who is today's Woodward & Bernstein?

Public Insight Journalism Senior Producer Andrew Haeg writes...

My vote: Walcott, Landay and Strobel, the journalistic team that was almost all alone in questioning the evidence the administration presented (and many others on both sides of the aisle accepted) for going to war in Iraq.

At time of writing, his vote stands alone so don't hesitate to add your own comment. To tap:

• Haeg's own quote in the blog: "But isn't burrowing into a story, like, a journalist's main job?"
• 25 years from now, will we invoke Vietnam and Watergate in conversation?
• Are journalists somehow bored and boring now, or what?

As always, let me know how your cocktail parties, coffeeshop discussions, or pick-up lines work out.

_________________
Julia Schrenkler
Interactive Producer, APM / MPR