2009 December | Here & Now

Intelligence Failures, The End of The Decade, Champagne under the Microscope, Films on Ty Burr’s Best Of List, Blue Moon Gazing

Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr gives his top film picks of the past decade, from “The Pianist”, “The Two Towers”, “Borat” and more.

Resident Chef Kathy Gunst has some ideas for delicious but simple breakfast and brunch ideas- especially fit for New Years Day.

Intelligence Failures, Penelope Leach, Arson Investigation in Western Massachusetts, Editor and Publisher Folds, Best Sports Books of 2009

Year in Review with Joe Klein, Revolutionary Ebrahim Yazdi’s Detention in Iran, The Irish Economy, A Young Man Joins the Army and Grows Up, The Economy in Cartoons

We page through New Yorker cartoons featuring bankers on ledges, Humpty Dumpty sitting on a Wall Street sign and a father laying off his wife and kids with New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, who says that “tragedy plus time equals comedy.” Mankoff has compiled the new book “On the Money: The Economy in Cartoons 1925-2009.”

Airline Security, Promised Virgins, Sakharov Prize, A Young Man Joins the Army and Grows Up, Louisa May Alcott

Three Wise Men, Word of the Year, Top Holiday Songs of the Decade, Is Chrysler Selling Cars or Cause?, Who is Sherlock Holmes?

Health Care on Christmas Eve, Digitizing Monk, The Manger, Christmas at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, A Christmas Carol

Father Columba Stewart has made it his mission to digitize precious manuscripts found in some of the most threatened communities around the world, including Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel, Iraq, and Ethiopia.

The Health of U.S. Banks, Islam in Chinese Characters, Mexican Drug War, Living to 100, Belmont Madrigals

Raised Jewish, Bill Adler started making Christmas music mixtapes after he married into a Christian family. And soon the hobby turned into a passion. Every year since 1984, Adler searches for the most eclectic Christmas music from all genres and decades to produce his “Christmas Jollies” mixtape. Producer Jon Kalish has our story.

The Battle for Tora Bora, Operation Marriage, iTV?, Food Stamps, Christmas Jollies

Health Care Reform Passes in the Senate, Searching for Balance in Religion, The Trial Of Major Hasan, Feliz Navidad in Barcelona, Cookbooks for The Cooks on Your List

Here and Now’s resident chef Kathy Gunst lugs in her favorite cookbooks of the year. They include “Gourmet Today” from Ruth Reichl, and books from chefs David Chang, Michael Psilakis, Barbara Lynch and others.

Climate Change, Wally Lamb, Gary, Indiana, A Canadian Doctor and His Ties to Tiger Woods, Letters and Robin’s Essay

Wally Lamb typically writes sprawling works that deal with difficult subjects but his new book is a breezy novella that’s perfect for the holiday season. “Wishin’ and Hopin: A Christmas Story” is set in a Connecticut parochial school in 1964 and the main event is a Christmas pageant that goes hilariously wrong.

U.S. Predator Drones Vulnerable to Hackers, The Music Room, Russia and Ukraine and Natural Gas, The Sales Tax Quandry, The Christmas Chronicles

Senate Closes in on Health Care Bill, History According to Howard Zinn, Small Town Police Accused of Murder Cover-Up, Yemen, Nearsightedness On the Rise, Heavy Metal Choir

If you’re getting weary of the omnipresent piped-in Christmas music this time of year, we have a break for you – a heavy metal choir. Here and Now’s Andrea Shea profiles Bang Camaro, a Boston based group which consists of two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and as many as 20 lead male singers.