Five at 8 – 7/1/09

1) Eric Ostermeier, who writes the Smart Politics blog, does not disappoint as he puts a bow on the U.S. Senate race. He puts the margin of victory in historical context. But enough of then. What about now? Time looks at the five areas where Franken can make a difference in the Senate. Monica Davie, the New York Times political reporter, does one of those segments where the NY Times tries to be a radio station, but provides a little analysis (Listen), including some thoughts on Norm Coleman’s future.

Better analysis comes from Stephen Colbert, of course.

What’s your message for Al Franken? Go here.

Franken was Morning Edition with Cathy Wurzer this morning.

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2) From the looks of things, the great uprising in Iran is over. In the end, did Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and the other social networking sites make a difference? “As great as Twitter was for getting the story out, it overstated the revolution,” Frank Rich said at the Personal Democracy Forum. But, the Wall St. Journal blog, Digits reported, the real surrender seems to be coming from Rich here at home. He said the consumers of news will get they want, and they want celebrity news.

Arianna Huffington gets a good grilling on the Twitternournalism from the BBC:

3) In a world where everyone wants to talk about either politics or Michael Jackson, someone has assembled the 50 greatest movie trailers of all time.

4) The joy of tinkering. A new TED video:

5) Few of us, I guess, still think that rocketing into space is cool. If you’re one of them, you’ll love Dick Gordon’s The Story talk with Dr. John Grunsefeld, who had a long commute to work. He was the Hubble repairman.

Bonus: Is there a difference between politicians’ affairs and the affairs of the little people? In the Loop explores.

WHAT WE’RE DOING

Midmorning – More on Al Franken in the first hour. Second hour: Dave Pirner, lead singer of Soul Asylum.

Midday – At noon, more on the Franken win. Political analysts Todd Rapp and Tom Horner will be in the studio. Coverage of the Franken rally at the Capitol.

Talk of the Nation – First hour: The gay community helped put Barack Obama in the White House. Now, many feel betrayed. What’s next in the relationship? Second hour: Joe Alonzo had a plan — college, job, marriage. Then the economy bottomed out. He’s part of a generation trying to start out in the worst economic crisis of their lives. TOTN looks at the prospects for Generation Next.

All Things Considered – Tim Pugmire takes a look at Gov. Pawlenty’s unallotment and the prospects for challenging the go-it-alone budget balancing strategy. Euan Kerr talks to Garrison Keillor about 35 years of A Prairie Home Companion. We get the second shoe in NPR’s series on health care from the doctors’ perspective. Today: What the younger docs think. Barbara Bradley Hagerty looks at the gay marriage issue and the African American church.