The Health of U.S. Banks

Big banks, small banks, a tax cut for Citigroup and more with Binyamin Applebaum of the Washington Post joins us.

Islam in Chinese Characters

There are over 20 million Muslims in China, in every province of the country, and they have been there for over a thousand years. Our guest, Jackie Armijo, has been following what she says is a revival in Islamic schools in China, many of them founded by young women in the country’s poorest regions. Armijo is associate professor of humanities and social sciences at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, where she studies Islam in Asia.

Mexican Drug War

Josefa Angulo Flores, center, and Irma Cordova, center right, aunt and mother, respectively, of Mexican soldier Melquisedet Angulo attend Angulo's funeral in Paraiso, Mexico, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Assailants on Tuesday gunned down Flores, Cordova and Angulo's siblings. Angulo was killed in a raid that took out one of Mexico's most powerful cartel leaders , sending a chilling message to troops battling the drug war. (AP)

The conflict that has claimed more than 15,000 lives in the last three years took another horrific turn this week when the family of a Mexican marine was slaughtered after his funeral. The marine died last week in a raid that resulted in the death of a notorious drug lord. Tracy Wilkinson, Mexico City bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times joins us to talk about it.

Living to 100

What’s the secret to living longer? Is it exercise, a healthy diet, or just good genes? We revisit a conversation with Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study. He studied 1,500 centenarians and shares what he learned from them.

Find out how long you’ll live, by visiting Dr. Perl’s life expectancy calculator

Belmont Madrigals

For months now amateur singing groups have been practicing their selections of holiday music to perform in their communities. Here & Now’s George Hicks followed one such group – the Madrigal singers from Belmont High School in Belmont, Massachusetts, during their busiest week of the year.

Hear the Madrigals sing “Thule, the Period of Cosmography,” a six-part madrigal by Thomas Weelkes, published 1600

Music from the Show

Greyboy Allstars, “V-Neck Sweater”
Gypsy Kings, “Hotel California”
The Clash, “London Calling”
Rush, “In the End”
Got to Give, “Somethings”
U2, “Out of Control”

Dan Strassberg

I listened to the segment on the Belmont Madrigal singers on today’s (12/23/2009) program and was blown away. I have lived in Arlington, just a stone’s throw from Belmont, for more than 45 years and before that, I lived in Belmont itself for four years. Yet, I had never heard of the Belmont Madrigals. At the end of the segment, you announced that listeners could hear more of the Madrigal singers at hereandnow.org. Well, here I am, and I’ll be darned if I can find the link to any content I can listen to. Please tell me how to get to the content. Thanks!
Jill Ryan

Hello Dan,

Our apologies for the inconvenience, there’s some extra Madrigal music posted on our site above now. Enjoy!

-Jill Ryan, Here & Now
Melanie Griffin

as the aunt of a belmont high grad and a singer myself, i was thrilled to hear the story. Unfortunately, the conductor made a glaring error in saying at least twice that Bach wrote Sicut Cervus. It is a famous motet by PALESTRINA. Even more unfortunate, you apparently don’t edit or fact check your pieces. Made the whole thing sound less professional.
Emily G

In response to Melanie Griffin’s correction — I believe that the choir was singing Bach’s Sicut Locutus Est, as reported on the broadcast, and that she is thinking of Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus.