A Most Unflattering Award

Guest: Jonathan Kasparek, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Waukesha. Author of Proxmire: Bulldog of the Senate.

The frugal William Proxmire was Wisconsin’s longest termed Senator. A feisty, maverick Democrat, his famous and often humorous and even controversial "Golden Fleece Awards" pointed out absurdities that often found their way into backroom budget compromises. We look at the man and the personality behind Proxmire's campaign to expose waste.

Have A’s Become Easier?

Guest: Paul Courant, Edward M. Gramlich Distinguished University Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan

Either students are getting a lot smarter, or grades are getting a lot easier. Paul Courant is pretty sure it's the latter. Grade inflation is occuring at all levels from high school to college and even at the most elite institutions. What does it say about our society. Can or should anything be done to combat it?