That's Crazy from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

The mental health of the Tucson shooter has become central to the conversation about the deadly incident in Arizona last weekend. Slate.com senior editor Dahlia Lithwick looks at how mental health becomes political and the history of the insanity defense. Plus: Seth Mnookin, author of the new book The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear; Money U continues with a conversation about debt collection; and Nassau County’s money problems.

Peter Bergen: History of the GWOT from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Peter Bergen, CNN's national security expert and author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden and The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda, offers an in-depth history of the War on Terror. Listen to the podcast.

The Caveman Diet from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Arthur De Vany, author of The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging, discusses the paleo lifestyle movement and the caveman diet. Listen to the podcast.

Lessons Learned from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Bloomberg administration officials got grilled by the NY City Council yesterday about the city’s response to last month’s blizzard. WNYC’s Ailsa Chang breaks down the lessons learned as the city braces for another winter storm. Plus, WNYC's Bob Hennelly gives a preview of Governor Christie’s State of the State address; Eric Alterman on kabuki politics; New America Foundation fellow Parag Khanna talks about his new book How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance; and a continued conversation about the shooting in Tucson, Arizona with NJ Congressman Bill Pascrell and others.

Eric Alterman On Arizona And Obama from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Eric Alterman, columnist for The Nation, and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, is the author of Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama. He discusses the new political landscape in the light of the Tucson shooting, and next moves for the Obama administration. Listen to the podcast.

Divided Government from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Jonathan Alter is a correspondent for Newsweek, a columnist for Bloomberg News, an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One. Today he takes a look at the ways the President may try to work with the new Congress. The podcast will be posted on this webpage shortly.

The Haves and the Have-Nots from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Branko Milanovic, lead economist at the World Bank's research division on poverty and the author of The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality, talks about the past and present of global inequality and what it means for democracy today. The podcast will be posted on the webpage for this story momentarily.

Technologically Overconnected from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

William Davidow, venture capitalist, former Intel executive, and the author of Overconnected: The Promise and Threat of the Internet, discusses the perils of living in an age in which the internet connects everything from credit default swaps to Hurricane Katrina, and why this interdependency is making us increasingly vulnerable to a global financial meltdown. The podcast for this show will be posted to WNYC's webpage for the story, shortly.

Health Checklist from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Atul Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, discusses his book and offers his take on how to improve our healthcare system. Listen to the podcast.

How Many Friends Do You Really Need? from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Many people have hundreds, if not thousands of 'friends' on social networks like Facebook. But do they all really count? Robin Dunbar, director of the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford and author of How Many Friends Does One Person Need?, discusses the theory of Dunbar's Number, which states that the maximum number of stable relationships one person can have is 150. The podcast for this show will be posted here, shortly.

How to Build a Fire from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Erin Bried, Self Magazine senior staff writer and author of How to Sew a Button and How to Build a Fire: And Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew talks about everyday things "the greatest generation" knew how to do, from building a fire to negotiating a raise. Download the podcast here.

Human Dignity from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

What is Human Dignity? George Kateb, author of the new book Human Dignity discusses the meaning of the term and its importance in the claim to fundamental rights. See the webpage for that show here.

You Discover Brooklyn from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Last week, NBC Nightly News Anchor Brian Williams jokingly named his top media story of 2010: the The New York Times' discovery of Brooklyn, a mysterious land of ironic spectacles and artisanal cheeses. Now we want to hear your pitches for the best trend story about the borough. Steve Hindy, former journalist and co-founder of the Brooklyn Brewery, and Amy Sohn, author of the satirical novel Prospect Park West, judge your suggestions of Brooklyn trends, real or imagined. Download the podcast here.

Journalism Around the World from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Jennifer 8 Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food (Twelve, 2008), talks about her travels this year and what she's discovered about social networking and journalism around the world. Among the many news innovations Lee has witnessed was the open source mapping of Haiti following the January earthquake. Check out a video representation of the mapping improvements. Download the podcast here.

Wasted from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Jonathan Bloom, Wasted Food blogger and the author of American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It) talks about why half of America's food goes uneaten and what consumers can do to cut waste. What are your tips for cutting down on food waste? Download the podcast here.

An American in China from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Deb Fallows, author of Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons In Life, Love, And Language, writes about the cultural differences she encountered living in China. Download the podcast here.

Going Negative from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist, activist and author of Nickel and Dimed and Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America, discusses the current mood in the country and what she sees as an unwarranted obsession with optimism. Download the podcast here.

The Middle East in Literature from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Reza Aslan, associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and author of No God But God, discusses the new anthology he edited, Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East. Listen to the podcast.

Funding End-of-Life Counseling from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Under a new policy starting next month, the government will pay doctors to discuss options for end-of-life care with their patients, which may include advance directives -- instructions on how aggressively to continue medical treatment if the patient is too incapacitated to decide for themselves. Daniel Callahan, co-founder of the Hastings Center for nonpartisan research on bioethics and public policy, and author of Taming the Beloved Beast: How Medical Technology Costs Are Destroying Our Health Care; and Trudy Lieberman, contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review, discuss the new measure. Download the podcast here.

Why We Get Fat from WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC, New York Public Radio)

Gary Taubes, correspondent for Science magazine and author of Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It discusses diet and the obesity epidemic. Download the podcast here.