Author Archives: Laura Hertzfeld

Top posts of '09

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Over at EconomyBeat, Jon’s put together a list of underperforming posts for the year. I’m a little tired of this whole ‘glass half empty’ thing, so while the top performing posts aren’t all good news (how could they be?), here’s a quick glimpse at some popular economy stories and projects from public media in 2009.

1. One Sixth of What? The health care debate was the story of the year in Washington, so it’s no surprise that it hit a nerve with EconomyStory readers as well. While progress has been made since we looked at what healthcare costs really mean, in the new year, the bill will reach President Obama’s desk. Here are some recent thoughts from NPR listeners about the current health care bill. Health care also took center stage in a game from American Public Media, where you decide how tax dollars get spent.

2. Water, Water Everywhere The close ties between water, the economy, and politics brought a number of investigative stories from California, which faced a huge drought in 2009.

3. Men Men Suits vs. Corduroy Patches One of the most successful shows on TV this year lent itself to a popular EconomyStory post. The series Mad Men on AMC had everyone throwing back to classic 60s looks and highball drinks on Sunday nights, prompting NPR to do a piece on a new Brooks Brothers suit, styled in the Mad Men tradition. The price tag, however, was something not everyone could hang their fedora on this year.

4. One House One Town One Lecture You can’t talk about the economy of 2009 without mentioning the real estate bust. In Missouri, The Economy Project looked at one filmmaker’s take on the housing bubble, and NewsHour’s Patchwork Nation examined how the crisis played out around the country.

5. Watch and Learn When PBS launched it’s new video widget this fall, the web responded and now the video player is on dozens of station and program sites, featuring stories from shows like NewsHour, Frontline, and Nightly Business Report. You can add it to your personal site as well. Check out some of the best videos of the year that are up now:

Tough times for Latino teens

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It’s been a hard year for many, but several stories this week highlight just how tough for some teenagers – in particular the children of Latino immigrants to the U.S.

Teens are facing a high unemployment rate, and overall are working hard to cut back, particularly at this spendy time of year, as the New York Times reported over the weekend.

But some teens can’t work, even when there are jobs available. A new documentary profiled on NPR’s All Things Considered today focuses on an 18-year-old jazz saxophonist who immigrated to Indiana from Mexico with his family as a child.

The 18-year-old is a completely American kid who has little memory of Mexico. His spoken Spanish is poor; his written Spanish is worse. But without documents, Sam is unable to legally work, to drive, to get financial aid or even to attend some U.S. colleges.

In Texas, the Indiana teenager’s dilemma is even more common, as the state has one of the largest Latino populations in the country. Public Media Texas reported recently on on a new study from the Pew Hispanic Center on what Latino coming of age means in America. NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff interviewed the study’s lead:

The Dallas Federal Reserve’s blog also reported on the Pew study and tried to uncover the reasons for the pay gap among Latinos in Texas, including among Latino teens.

Education deficits are clearly a key reason Texas’ Latinos haven’t narrowed the wage gap with non-Hispanic whites. Even so, it’s puzzling why native-born Latinos have a much lower average educational attainment in Texas than in other states.

National research on Latino educational outcomes offers a few clues about what may be inhibiting education. Most important, schooling may be interrupted by the need to work or take care of family responsibilities. Latinos tend to have higher poverty rates, lower incomes and larger families than non-Hispanic whites.

Read it … and weep

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Last week, the Houston Chronicle reported that the final bookstore in Laredo is slated to close. But readers in the small South Texas city are trying to come to its rescue with a web site to try to save the store.

Laredo is a Patchwork Nation “Immigration Nation” community, with a large Latino population and lower-than-average household incomes.

Southern Texas has a strong literary history. Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry wrote of the city in Streets of Loredo (and spoke with NPR about his literary journey on Morning Edition earlier this week). And recently Texas Public Radio talked to San Antonio resident Sandra Cisneros, who wrote The House on Mango Street.

The story of Laredo’s bookstore is indicative of a larger trend facing bookstores and other cultural institutions across the U.S. as the economic decline hits home.

In Massachusetts, one town’s bookmobile service was forced to close recently due to lack of funds. The 75-year-old bookmobile project closed after state funds were cut, according to NPR station WAMC in Sheffield, Mass.

Detroit’s cultural institutions are also feeling the pinch after the automobile industry’s hard times. As Michigan Public Radio reported the Symphony and other arts groups are having to make massive cuts.

“The Michigan Opera Theater is also struggling. The company lost two-thirds of its funding when Chrysler and GM went into bankruptcy. So the company has had to cut its budget, shorten its season and lay off staff.”

But fortunately these challenges haven’t yet meant that great books aren’t being written. NPR’s Best Books of 2009 list features the gems of the year, including one that may have some advice for struggling readers and writers – The Financial Lives of the Poets.

Holiday stress

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Gingerbread man/ Credit Flickr user: kevandem

The theme movies on TV and Christmas carols on a loop at the mall may have you picturing a Courier and Ives-esque trip home for the holidays, but for many Americans, the holidays cause a huge amount of stress and anxiety.

A recent report from the Caron Institute found that budget tightening increased holiday stress.

“In general, 90% of the respondents said they experience some level of stress and/or anxiety about the holiday season. However this year more than a third (38 percent) said they expect to feel more stress and anxiety this holiday season due to the current economy.”

And things are getting less fun all over, due in no small part to the economy. Companies are holding smaller (and fewer) holiday parties to thank employees. In this piece from WNYC’s The Takeaway, experts reflected on party alternatives in the current recession.

“The money that used to be spent on the holiday party is now distributed evenly among employees and added to their end-of-year bonuses.”

Even greeting cards are taking a hit. I was always told “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” But the greeting card industry seems to feel that there’s always SOMETHING appropriate for the season.

David Dickerson, a freelance greeting card writer, spoke with NPR’s Talk of the Nation last week about ideas for new ways to say ‘seasons greetings’ during tough times.

For tips about how to handle stress in your life, One Nation Under Stress premieres on PBS January 4. In the second chapter, available online here, author Elizabeth Gilbert (“Eat, Pray, Love”) reflects on her journey through stress after a divorce.

How are you coping with stress this holiday season?