Monday, April 1, 2013

'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me' and IPC





I love listening to Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR radio program. I get it on
podcast, in case I am not in my car when it comes on...which is most of the time.
The best time to listen is when weed-pulling, raking or other repetitive, non-mental
process.

And sometimes I get behind on my listening. But I do catch up eventually. A
marathon weeding weekend meant lots of air time. My reward: the December
15th segment brought a nice surprise, in a funny way. Peter Sagal related how
the Common Core Standards for school children now puts the stress on non-fiction
reading. And of course, he had to come up with some 'great' examples of works that
would replace 'Catcher in the Rye' and 'Huck Finn.'

Here is what he listed as examples of what he jokingly offered kids to read:
"...classics like, "Recommended Levels of Insulation," by the US Environmental
Protection Agency, and that classic, "The Invasive Plant Inventory," by California's
Invasive Plant Council."

After some kidding around, Sagal concluded with this remark: "You know what's
going to happen, the kids aren't going to apply themselves. They're all going to
wait until the last minute and then go out and get the movie version of the invasive
plant directory."

So, where's the video available?


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