Archive for category Public Service Announcement

Date: February 1st, 2010
File Under: Public Service Announcement, Transformation

Episode 17: Undercover Boss

Do you ever wish your boss could walk in your shoes? To know first hand how stressful it can be, how hard you work? You are about to see one of America’s most powerful bosses trade in his corner office and expense account for a bag lunch. For one week he’ll work undercover. He’ll work side-by-side with his employees and they don’t have a clue he is the big boss. Take a look.

Waste Management is the largest trash and recycling company in North America, a $13 billion business with 45000 employees and 20 million customers. Larry O’Donnell is President and Chief Operations Offficer. He’s been very fortunate in his career, but his family is very important to him. His wife and son are his pillars of strength, the joy of his life. His daughter was born normal but as the result of a standard examination, she threw up and aspirated and ended up with brain damage. And that’s why he never wants to work for a company where people don’t know how to follow proper procedures, maybe that’s why he takes safety so seriously.

Going undercover, he will pose as Randy Lawrence, shooting a TV show about trying entry level jobs within Waste Management, moving from location to location and staying at low-budget motels. Sandy tells Larry to pick up trash, cardboard and recyclables off the conveyor belt line and put them in the right places. Sandy shouts instructions to Larry but he simply cannot keep up. Larry says he was sweating bullets because he knows how expensive the equipment is. Leaving cardboard on the belt will jam the equipment. He tells the people in the break room that he fears he may have messed up. Sandy has to run in an alarming fashion… and goes to punch in. She explains that she can get docked two minutes for every minute that she’s laste. Larry says that doesn’t seem fair.

Back in the studio, Larry is there with Oprah. Was he prepared for the physicality of it all? Not at all- he works out every and thinks he’s in pretty good shape, but the reaching and stretching and trying to figure out what’s coming down the line was very physically demanding. Plus the mental stress, particularly as a new person, he was not very good at it. He would have to practice to be good at that job.

Next time round, Walter is Larry’s supervisor at the landfill in Pompano Beach, Florida. He asks Larry to pick up litter that’s blowing away from the landfill and put it in a garbage bag. Larry asks if there are any special techniques and Walter says it’s just picking up paper. Larry says the trash is kicking his… Walter says he is taking too long, says he’s not cutting the mustard, they go to lunch. Outside of work, Walter is on dialysis which takes up three nights a week. Larry never would have guessed. Walter says his spirit tells his body what is going to happen. He says he gets pissed off by being able to run rings round healthy people like Larry. Larry gets a second chance after lunch, Walter will time him, and shout at him. Larry says he’s not very good at it. Walter thanks him for coming to Waste Management to try it out, but says he just doesn’t have it.

Back in the studio, Larry says this is the first—and hopefully last—time that he’s been fired from a job. It should take ten minutes to fill a bag of trash. This did give him the sense of what his employees go through every day, and how his decisions can impact that. He spends 200 days a year out in the field so he thought he knew what they go through, he felt he was approachable and engaged by employees, but this is very different. When he goes out as the president of the company, he gets treated as the president, this is different.

Undercover Boss is a new CBS show where bosses go undercover and work with their employees. Larry now is filling the garbage truck in Rochester NY with trash. He works with Janice who says she visits a little over 300 homes a day. She says it’s a good company but they are not very female friendly. She shows him the can she has to pee in. He asks if she’s ok with that, she says she has to be. They meet a community member who hugs Janice and reminds Larry him of his daughter and he breaks down a little.

Oprah asks Larry about the pee in the cup, he has no idea where the policy comes from. She was very engaged with her customers, but disappeared for a few minutes, and he tried to help, and then she showed him the pee can. He’s from Texas, where they call them pecans- he thought she’d been given a gift. When she put it in his hands it hit him. His mind started going thinking why is she peeing in a can? Though it’s not a corporate policysees it as his failure that they have thought about that.

His next stop is at a landfill in Fairport, New York. He is interested to see if the downsizing and streamlining of staff is working. Larry meets Jaclyn, she is office manager, administrative assistant, scale operator, scale supervisor, all the accounts payable, receivable and payroll. She nnever does one thing at a time. She felt overwhelmed the first week, but she takes multitasking to a whole new level. She makes the same amount of money for doing dual roles or triple roles or quadruple roles, she don’t even know how many.She wants to get the most out of life because she has I experienced a lot of health problems. By the time she was 21, she had a total hysterectomy and she had five forms of cancer before she was 25. She’s not the average 29-year-old girl. She says that someday, she’s going to run this place. She invites him fro dinner at her house to meet her family. He brings flowers. There are three families here living with her, depending on her. SHe just does what it takes. They moved in five years ago, but the taxes went up and it’s currently for sale, and she’d like to stay in the home.

Larry tells Oprah that he couldn’t sleep after visiting Jaclyn’s family. Jaclyn is there on the stage. Jaclyn felt bad for Larry, so invited him home. Oprah asks is he almost blew his cover… this was very unusual for Jaci to have so many jobs, and he felt bad for the family situation. At the risk of blowing his cover, he arranged to meet Jaclyn’s boss.

Larry’s next job is cleaning toilets. he looks vaguely disgusted. The site manager reminds them that they have 8 minutes to clean it and move on. They find the diaper. 15 toilets an hour is the goal, the person he’s with, Fred, sees the potential in him.

Oprah was so inspired by Fred, cleaning toilets all day with such good humor. Fred is in the studio, he focuses each morning that the day will be a good day. If he wants to use the toilet he wants it to be clean. Oprah has never used a port-a-potty in her life because you don’t know what you’ll find in there. Larry was inspired by Fred, driving saying it’s not a job but an adventure. larry had more fun doing that job, which surprised him. Larry made it so much fun.

After one week undercover, Larry revealed his identity. All of the employees are floored. Fred is invited to speak to the Senior Management Team. Larry commits to fixing the unfemale-friendly policy- he’s set up a task force. He will fix the clocking-in issue. Walter will get some paid time off to help people go through treatment as he is a motivational person. Jaclyn, who is doing all those jobs will get a salary, become bonus-eligible. She is delighted that her hard work has paid off. She feels validated. they are all blessed that they got to take part in this. To her Larry will be Randy, an everyday guy who impacted their life.

Oprah wants to say that part of the reason that happened is because she put out the opportunity and it came back to her. Fred no longer works at Larry’s company, it ended on great terms and he’s doing well. Larry’s biggest lesson was a whole new appreciation for the front line employees. On a personal level he is so blessed. One thing he learned is that people welcomed him and cared and wanted him to be a better person. Thanks everyone.

The 7-Eleven empire spans five continents and has more than 28,000 locations worldwide. The sultan of the slurpy, Joe DePinto, is the man who oversees this billion-dollar corporation, but for his Undercover Boss covert mission, he swaps his luxurious lifestyle for a uniform and mop. His alias is Danny Rossi, his cover story is that he used to be in real estate. He’s out of work, and looking for new opportunities. He wants to find out why people choose to work the nightshift. His co-worker, Waqas, asks him to greet customers, stock merchandise and perform the regular cleaning duties. Danny is not working very hard, says Waqas. They have to keep these restrooms clean, four or five times a night. They have to throw away the stale doughnuts- Joe is upset that they are not going to charities.
The next stop is an early-morning shift in Shirley, New York, to see why one store sells more cups of coffee than any other franchise. Joe says he need sto figure out what makes their coffee business so great so that he can share it with the other stores. At 5:30 a.m. Joe meets Dolores. Joe suggests a sink would be helpful, Dolores says in his dreams. She knows everyone, she’s been here 18 years. One of the customers tells him that Dolores is raising five kids, has one working kidney and must have dialysis twice a week. Dolores is the reason that they are selling 2,500 cups of coffee.

Back in the studio with Oprah, Joe was reminded of when he started in a Kentucky Fried Chicken, and it reminded him how hard the folks out there work. At one point he asked to turn off the cameras- he couldn’t believe they were throwing away doughnuts. Now they have a system in place. Oprah calls Dolores the coffee queen. SHe joins us by Skype with her customers. Dolores says the secret is good coffee, nice customers and a good store. SHe thought Joe was pushy and had no potential. After revealing his true identity, Joe gives Dolores a special surprise—two season tickets to the New York Yankees, her favorite team.

7-Eleven also donates $150,000 to Donate Life America, an organization that encourages organ donation, in honor of Dolores. She thanks him. Joe’s final assignment lands him in a delivery truck with Igor in Dallas. Igor was a college educated business manager in Russia, and a decorated officer in the army. Igor tells Danny that his truck is his baby, and if he had arms long enough he would hug it. Then he says let the fun begin and the two of them start their round of deliveries. Danny says is it a pleasure having worked with Igor, he is energetic, enthusiastic and positive, just the kind of guy you would want to work for you. Back in the truck Danny asks Igor how he stays so motivated in the middle of the night. Igor says that he is living the American Dream; America is the best country in the world, Americans just don’t know how blessed they are.

Back in the studio with Oprah she tells us that Joe calls Igor an unsung hero, he drives his delivery truck with gusto. Oprah then turns to Igor and asks him why he admitted to one time looking down on people like himself. Igor says that when he was back in Russia he used to be in a position of power and of course would down on people below him. However, when he came to the states he couldn’t really find a job because of his inability to speak the language and was a janitor for a while. This was a very humbling experience and made him better understand people. Oprah asks how he how he can keep so positive driving a truck. Igor takes pride in a job well done and when he used to be a janitor he would make the restroom floor sparkle like diamonds. Oprah then turns to the audience and says that Joe has some good news for Igor.

Joe tells Igor that he has humility, can-do-attitude and that he’s a hard worker who puts the company first. Joe knows that Igor has dreams of running his own franchise but that he’s been worried about finances, therefore 7-Eleven has waived the franchise fee and Joe hands Igor the keys to his own store. Hugs all round. Oprah tells us that Igor now has his own store and that 7-Eleven has waived the start-up fee which normally amounts to $140.000 and that he now fully can live the American Dream by being his own boss. Undercover Boss will premier on CBS on sunday right after the Super Bowl. Bye everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

If you go to meet your employees as the president of the company, you get treated as the president of the company.

As an undercover employee, you may uncover some of your own policies which shock you.

You may also discover that your employees work harder than you do, with much less reward.

America is the best country in the world, Americans just don’t know how blessed they are.

As the president of the company, you will be able to reveal who you are and give your employees some hefty financial rewards.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Work hard and you will be rewarded. Keep hoping your coworker is actually your very rich boss.

Date: January 29th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Entertainment, Public Service Announcement

Episode 16: Happy Birthday Oprah! Fridays LIVE

Happy Birthday Oprah! Live in Chicago and it’s Oprah’s birthday and it is the birthday of 101 people in the audience. Happy Birthday to all you Aquarians, they are wonderful people. Kayla is the youngest at 16, she is about to get her driver’s license and has taken the no-driving-phone pledge. Betty is the oldest birthday girl, she is 101. She attributes her success in life to a little scotch every now and then. Her son Freddy is here and it’s his birthday- he is 79 today. That’s incredible. Michelle is 31, she came all the way from Sydney Australia. Everyone says g’day to Michelle. Oprah says that everyone is asking her what she’s doing for her birthday; she’s doing the show for her birthday. She decided to get herself two birthday babies- in come 2 springer spaniels. They are 14 week old puppies, Sunny and Lauren. Oprah always thought her next dog would be called Lauren, so this was fate. They come from Paws, a no-kill shelter in Chicago. Oprah was nervous about getting puppies then a friend suggested that she gets help. Neutering your animal extends the length of their life, and makes them more social. The puppies have a brother, but Stedman said that three would be too much. Nancy, a good friend, who also has a birthday today, is about to get the other puppy- out comes her baby boy. She loves him already. Oprah makes her solemnly swaer to love and cherish and feed the little peanut for the rest of his life. The puppies will go back to the shelter for three more days to get their vaccinations, then they’ll go home. There are many no-kill shelters across the US, there is a list on Oprah.com. Happy Birthday everybody.

Oprah is sharing her birthday with 100 other people born on January 29th. Up in The Air is such a fantastic movie, George Clooney was so George Clooney. The movie reflects what is going on In America right now, it’s about job loss, disconnection and tough economic times, wrapped into a clever entertaining package. George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a man who makes his living traveling across the country firing people. Director Jason Reitman, who was nominated for an Oscar for Juno, does a great job of capturing how people react when they lose their jobs. To capture the anguish of the 15 million people who are unemployed, Jason cast some real live people who had just lost their jobs in the movie. Wow.

This is Jason Reitman’s thrd movie, he is being called brilliant, sophisticated, original… he likes those adjectives, thank you. Oprah asks if he’s enjoying the ride- of course. He’s made personal films, each a story that he wants to tell, all from his heart. It is very fulfilling to do these films so early in his career. He’s wanted to do movies his whole life. At the Toronto Film Festival, Jason says that no one was looking at George Clooney becasue Oprah was in the room. Oprah denies this. Oprah marvels that Jason wrote and directed this film- he started writing it 7 years ago. She asks how he knew, if he had a premonition. He was adapting a novel by Walter Curran and he thought he was making a movie about a single man, but over the course of writing it the world changed. He changed too, he became a husband and father, which had an enormous impact on the character. The economy went from an ecomonic boom to the worst recession on record, and the film began to reflect that. Two weeks ago Jason won a Golden Globe for the best screenplay and he gave the sweetest acceptance speech saying that George was one of the greatest men he’s ever met, his wife is the fuel to his creative fire to write women, and to his mother and father for making him the man and the storyteller he is. He worked with his Dad in the film and hopes to do that again. Oprah happens to be friends with Jason’s parents, and says she can only imagine what this means to his parents. His father is the legendary producer and director Ivan Reitman, the man behind Ghostbusters and Animal House and many other defining comedies of our time. Working together was wonderful and unusual- you have to fgure out the new dynamic and seperate the father-son conversations from producer-director conversations; sometimes the two crossed. Previously, as a pre-med student- he was scared of being a director- the presumption is if you are the son of a famous director that you usually have a drug problem and no talent. He figured he’d fail on a big, public level and if he found success he’d be in his father’s shadow for his whole life. He chose medicine because no-one questions why you want to become a doctor. His father visited him and told him that being scared isn’t a reason to do anything. He persuaded Jason to go back to LA and pursue storytelling. In doing so he became the first Jewish father ever to say don’t be a doctor, be a film director.

Jason does like the title Director- it felt great the first time he was introduced as that. Oprah thought it was a brilliant touch to cast real life unemployed people in he movie. Three of the people in the movie are in the audience. The Chuck-e-Cheese line was said by Lamorris, he made up his own lines because he’d just been laid off. Jason recognised early on that he didn’t have the life experience to get this authenticity. They reached out to people who’d just lost their jobs in the Detroit / St Louis area where they were filming. They’d interview them for a few minutes then fire them on air so the person could say what they had said when they got fired, or what they’d wished they’d said on camera. Oprah asks if it was validating? They all say yes. Marlene was fired by letter after 27 years – she was lost, numb, going through the motions. After you process the news, you realise that your life changes in a day. It happened a week after the movie was being filmed at the airport. Arthur says he was a model employee, he had perfect attendance, and got along with everybody- he went through a double shocker. He believes Jason is a genius and he felt less like he was alone, this was a solid validation of the experience. He feels vindicated and appreciated. The world needs more Jason Reitmans and Oprah, people who care. When seeing the film, Arthur thought it was an opportunity for the world to see what he went through. This is more than a movie, it’s like a slice of reality at its best. Jason is embarrassed. He says it is a movie that is dramatic and comedic and is a mirror to George Clooney and a mirror to America. You’ll recognise what it is like to be a middle age person having a crisis, and you get to see George Clooney fall in love, which is nice. Oprah asks if it was shocking when Clooney came to the door? Jason says he wasn’t shocked because he wrote it, he saw it coming.

Jason thanks the three unemployed people for making his film real, for saying things he couldn’t write, for helping to make a film he couldn’t have made without them. The Chuck e Cheese line was heartbreaking and real, he would never have written it. They gave the actors a run for their money and changed his film. He thanks them. Oprah says everyone should go see the film, to appreciate it and be entertained.

Oprah is going to do everything she can to stop people texting and talking on the phone when driving because it is stupid. She has everything she needs for her birthday, what she wants is for the country to shift like we did with buckling up and designated drivers. Just yesterday, Oprah had an in-your-face intervention with an audience member. Two audience members got into bad accidents texting, two totalled cars. Driving at 50 mph and texting; neither driver has done it since. One of the girl’s friends, Sarah, is addicted to her phone. Oprah tells her the way the universe works is this- first you get a a whisper, then a tap on your head, then a brick, then a brick wall. This is Sarah’s brick wall. She says the fact that Sarah is here and the people next to her got into accidents, means that Oprah would be very very frightened if she was her. She can’t get it any stronger, Oprah is in Sarah’s face. The producers follow Sarah home. Interviewed after the show, she says Oprah is a nice person but the confrontation was tough. They followed her home and had her watch the texting while driving show. She was shocked and heartbroken. The tragic real-life stories gave her alot to think about. The program made the thought a reality. Sarah is in the audience again 24 hours later. It has sunk in, she is lucky and grateful that she has not had an accident yet. She goes on stage and signs the pledge. 266 people in the audience signed the pledge today. Sarah will keep her phone in her purse in the back seat of the car.

The headline in USA Today on Monday, was that the states go after texting drivers- bus and truck drivers are now prohibited from texting while driving, bravo. Apparently the Oprah Show spoke to the Secretary of transport personally who said he signed the pledge at Oprah.com. Ali Wentworth, from the Oprah Winfrey Show admits she sometimes texts and always talks while driving. She pledges to make her car a no-phone zone. In footage, we see her put her phone in a tiny bed in the back of her Lexus and drive away. She’d usually check emails at stop lights- she says she is sweating a little and feels uncomfortable and wants cheese fries. But she works through it and shouts at texting drivers through a megaphone. She films people texting, people say they will stop and sign the pledge. Some say they are not texting but using GPS or saving a phone number. Ali is standing by, Oprah says it is difficult at first, it’s like breaking an addiction.

Ali is in DC and joins the show via Skype. Ali has not slipped in the last three days- a tip she recommends is to tell your children that they can scream if they see you pick up the phone. It works; she slipped up once and lost the hearing in her right ear. She wishes everyone a happy birthday and says she is excited that she and Oprah are now the same age. She holds up a piece of paper with the number 28 written on it. Everyone laughs. She has presents for the puppies, they are excellent collars from the store Bling for your Bitch. Oprah and Sarah talk about giving up using your phone in the car is like an addiction, Ali likens giving up her phone in the car to quitting smoking- she says listening to satellite radio or a book on tape can make the car time work for you.

Hugh Jackman sings Happy Birthday for Oprah on video. Oprah holds a puppy and stands with the audience. All the audience is getting a free 2-night stay in a Hilton hotel anywhere in the world. The audience go wild and a cake is wheeled in with all the birthday names on it. Have a great day everybody and remember Oprah’s birthday wish; make your car a no-phone zone and take the pledge on Oprah.com

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

When you have everything you ever could wish for, two puppies and a mission to make the world a safer place will suffice for birthday presents.

Up In The Air is a dramatic, comedic, brilliant film mirroring both our times and George Clooney.

Texting while driving is still stupid, and Oprah is not afraid to get in the face of any offender.

Giving up using your phone is not unlike withdrawal from an addiction.

Hugh Jackman will have a glass of red wine in Oprah’s honor tonight.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Oprah’s birthday wish: sign the no-phone car-zone pledge, and get a puppy from a no-kill shelter.

Date: January 27th, 2010
File Under: Live your best life, Public Service Announcement, Transformation, Uncategorized

Episode 14: Before You Grocery Shop Again… Food 101, With Michael Pollan

Oprah will turn 56 in a couple of days and she still loves it when she learns something new, and she recently saw an eye-opening, fascinating documentary, Food, Inc. It makes you think, like any good documentary- we all have to start paying more attention to what we put into our bodies and look at the bigger picture beyond carbs, fat, calories etc. Do you know where your food comes from? In the studio they do a quiz. The most consumed meat in the world is not beef as the audience guessed, but rather goat. Goat is lower in fat and cholestorol than chicken and has more protein than beef. In Chicago in midwinter, grapes travel further than tomatoes or mushrooms to arrive in the grocery store. Children today drink twice as much soda as milk. Americans take 3 million pounds of antibiotics and livestock take 28 million pounds, which is why they are doing today’s show.

An extract from Food, Inc: The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than the last ten thousand. But the image we are sold is still the old rural America, a view of farmers, 30’s farmhouses, fields and picket fences. Food in our supermarkets (average 47,000 products) has become seasonless, tomatoes are available all year rounds. There are no longer bones in the meat aisle. If you follow the food chain back from the shrink-wrapped meat you have a very different reality. In the 70’s the top 5 beef packers controlled 25% of the market, now the top 45 control over 80% of the market. A handful of companies have changed what we eat and how we make our food. Modern agriculture is about making things faster and bigger and fatter and cheaper, nobody is thinking about the ecological health of the whole system.

Oprah says that some food industry organizations are saying that the film Food, Inc is biased and misleading but that we can make up our own minds, because we live in America. Isn’t that wonderful? For Oprah it boils down to making more conscious food decisions. Oprah recommends we watch it for ourselves and make our own decisions.

An extract from Food, Inc: Birds are raised and slaughtered in half the time they were 50 years ago and they’re now twice as big. People like white meat so chicken’s have been re-engineered to have bigger breasts. A farmer asks why you would raise a chicken in 3 months when you could do it in 49 days? More money in your pocket, The chickens never see sunlight. In the chicken house there is dust and feces everywhere, it is an assembly line with mass production. With the rapid growth of a chicken from a chick to fully grown in 7 weeks, alot of the internal organs and bones can’t keep up with the rate of growth, so many of the chickens can only take a few steps and then they fall down. Th intensive production systems produce alot of food on a small amount of land at an affordable price.

Oprah says after seeing the film she had to spread the message. Michael Pollan award-winning journalist and 4-times bestseller author is one of the foremost authorities on food in the world. Pollan says we re-engineered the bird- it is a great achievement in one way, it is now the cheap meat- the reason is breeding, diet, antibiotics and our willingness to tolerate this feedlot system. There is a price to be paid for the shortened lifespan of a chicken, and the price is antibiotics. If we give so many to the animals, they will no longer work for the people and we see alot of antibiotic resistant germs coming out of feed lots. Cheap food is great, and we have to acknowledge the achievement, but also the cost. Oprah asks how we feed America without mass-producing food- it’s the American way. Americans have done a good job of driving down food prices; we spend 9.5% of our income on food, the smallest percentage in the world. It’s hard to imagine we can make food production fair, humane and sustainable without increasing prices. Can we figure out how to mass-produce sustainable food? We don’t know exactly how yet but we can figure out how to do it if we can re-engineer a chicken.

Oprah asks how the Western diet relates to the rest of the world. It’s a confused treacherous landscape where cereal promises better focus in the classroom and a healthy heart. Most of what is in the supermarket is not “food”, it is an edible food-like substance. The western diet was invented about 100 years ago- lots of everything- processed meat, sugar, additives, added fat- except fruits, vegetables and whole grains. In other parts of the world people are healthy eating seal blubber or cow’s blood. Before the Western diet, people did not suffer from Type 2 diabetes, heart disease obesity etc. It’s not about fat or carbs but whole foods. The Inuit diet is very high in fat-75%- seal blubber- but they do not suffer from Type 2 diabetes, heart disease . How is that asks Oprah, we don’t know says Pollan, maybe it is all the Omega 3’s. What we know is that traditional diet eaters are not suffering high rates of chronic diseases. It is about eating minimally processed plants, meats and fungi.

The rules

#2: Dont eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

#7 avoid food containing ingredients that a third grader couldn’t pronounce

#13 Eat only foods that will eventually rot

One of theories is do you pay for real food or pay for the doctor? In 1960 they paid 18% of national income on food and 5% on healthcare. Today we pay 9% on food and 17% on healthcare. The less we spend on food the more we spend on healthcare. This is not about nutrients- as soon as you demonize one nutrient, another gets a free pass. Look at the low-fat kick we were all on for the last 40 years; everyone got fatter. Fat was taken out of the product and replaced with sugar, so now you can get a fat-free yogurt with more calories than a full-fat yogurt.

# 39 Eat all the junk food you like as long as you cook it yourself.

We shouldn’t deprive ourselves of pleasure, but we should earn it by cooking. Cooking is key to take back control from the corporations, who cannot cook well and use too much salt and so on. Oprah calls for a food revolution because it all boils down to convenience- cheap fast easy. It’s not that hard to eat well if you are willing to put a little more thought, a little more effort and a little more money into it.

Food Inc: With a dollar to spend and two hungry kids, it is easier to get a small burger at the drive-through which will fill the kids up more than a single vegetable. Candy and soda are really cheap. Diabetes is a national crisis.

One comment Pollan hears all the time is that people can’t afford to eat well. He says it is amazing that fast food is cheaper than fresh produce. This is because the fast food has been subsidized through federal agricultural policy, to the tune of $56 billion in ten years and we do nothing to subsidise the fresh produce industry. Corn, soy wheat have been subsidized. With a dollar to buy as many calories as you can, the snack aisle will get you 1250 calories, versus 250 calories in the produce aisle. The bottom line as seen in the documentary is that we see that the consumer has the biggest voice. We get three votes a day to vote with our forks. If you vote with consciousness, we can change. It is empowering.

Pollan eats everything but is very picky about what he eats. He’ll eat grass-fed beef, which is more expensive but becoming more common- they don’t need antibiotics because cows are meant to eat grass, rather than corn which is what most are bred to eat now. Corn-fed animals grow faster but they get sick. We should choose to eat meat which has been fed well. Oprah says she has nothing to say about the beef industry, she has gone radio-silent. The audience chuckles. Milk, he buys from pastured animals- it has more beta-carotene and omega 3s. He buys alot from farmer’s market. Getting out of the supermarket is a great way to get nearer to the source of our food. If we eat real food, we don’t need to worry about nutrients. It all boils down to one rule. Eat food, mostly plants, not too much. Oprah reminds us that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that we should watch the film and make up our own minds.

Alicia Silverstone is best known as the actress in the comedy classic Clueless. What you may not know is that she suffered from asthma,insomnia eczema, and acne, and she was constantly constipated. 12 years ago she revamped her diet and no longer suffers, she sleeps like a baby and has tons of energy. At 33 she feels great and she joins us from satellite by New York. Oprah says she loves Alicia’s book, The Simple Diet, and has got a lot of recipes from it. What did Alicia do? She stopped eating meat and dairy and processed foods and now eats a lot of deliciosus incredible easy food which makes her feel amazing. Her skin changed drastically, her body changed and her energy level changed. She used to have those white marks on her brittle nails and now they are so strong she can’t bend them. She used to feel puffy, then her eyes got really white and she feels amazing. She was on a steak and donut diet and then went cold turkey. She leaned in to it from age 8-21, because she was an animal lover. She would flirt with ideas of vegetarianism. At 21, after seeing some documentaries similar to Food, Inc showing how the animals were raised, she decied that if she couldn’t eat her dog then she couldn’t eat any other animal species. The kind diet refers to being truly kind to yourself, letting yourself have your best health, look your best, feel your best and feel your most vital. Being vegan is Alicia’s choice, Oprah tried it for 21 days on a cleanse and missed cheese so much she was dreaming of the cheese in an omelette. She asked if the chickens are treated well and there is music playing, and the cows are happy, is that ok? Alicia said she’d like to see the happy chicken and cows.

The book is about taking baby steps to become your best self, to flirt with the ideas wherever you are at. Alicia understands wanting and loving cheese- even she sometimes slips up on cheese, usually after wine, and she gets gassy and her skin breaks out. It’s about weighing up the benefits- and the costs. Yes cheese is delicious. but so are all the recipes in the book. Oprah just had something from the book today and last night. But being practical, Oprah doesn’t want to frighten people into trying to give everything up. Alicia says add things in, don’t give things up -things like kale, collard greens and bok choi.

Alicia takes the cameras around the grocery store. Grocery shopping is her most favorite thing in the world, she says that you can flirt with a healthy lifestyle. She picks up vegan fake chicken breasts from the freezer counter. She is eating better food than ever before. Wholegrain rice will change your life. Rice milk and help milk are great. Have greens twice a day. Have maple syrup instead of sugar. Ice cream alternatives- Rice Dream Mud Cakes will change your life.

Alicia heads to her Broadway costar’s house, to cook up some favorites; leek and mushroom and pesto crostinis and the cheesy oozy beany guacamole dip. Oprah has some cooked up meals from the book that she says are delicious. Treat yourself more kindly because you deserve to feel your best and find your truth. They talk about vegan poop and how fabulous it is- Alicia says she wants to show it to her friend, Oprah just wants to talk about it. It’s effortless, and quick and she’s in and out 2 or 3 times a day.

The average American eats fast food four times a week. Steve Ells, the man behind Chipotle, wants to change the way fast food is served in the US. Fast food with a conscience. Just because it’s fast doesn’t mean it has to be a fast food experience. Fast food to most means cheap and processed. At Chipotle everything is fast and never frozen, organic and local if possible. 100% of chicken and pork is naturally raised, and 60% of beef is naturally raised. This year they will serve 70 million pounds of meat. It’s really important both taste wise and enviromentally that the animals are allowed to roam outside. Sustainable food should not be a luxury, it should be an everyday experience.

Oprah welcomes Steve and he tells her to come to Chipotle. In 1993 when he just got out of cooking school, he set up Chipotle to provide seed money for his fancy restaurant but it got really busy. They had a great attention to detaill not usually found in fast food. They keep their standards high by doing a few thing s and teaching people how to cook, and fast. In the beginning it was just about freshness. But he was sourcing a new pork supplier and came across an Iowan pork that was humane and antibiotic free and it tasted great. Looking at pork in confinement, he decided not to base Chipotle on that model. We eat 200lb per person per year of meat- if all our animals were raised outside there would be a trade off- we’d have to eat less meat but it would be better quality.

Amazon.com friends are offering Food Inc for $9.99 with a free digital download. Michael Pollan’s final thoughts are that pioneers like Steve wil help us figure it out. You have to pay a little more and decide if it’s worth it to you. Think about how your decisions affect you and your children and their children. Thank you everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Modern agriculture is about making things faster and bigger and fatter and cheaper, nobody is thinking about the ecological health of the whole system.

We can make up our own minds about these issues, because we live in America. Isn’t that wonderful?

Most of what is in the supermarket is not “food”, it is an edible food-like substance.

Consider being truly kind to yourself, letting yourself have your best health, look your best, feel your best and feel your most vital.

Vegan poop is effortless, quick and fabulous enough to consider sharing it with your friends.

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Eat food, mostly plants, not too much

Date: January 22nd, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Public Service Announcement, Tragedy

Episode 11: Sarah Palin and her Daughter Bristol

Live here in Chicago, there is a major telethon on tonight- everyone should unite in front of the TV tonight. Oprah’s first guest today is always making news, and she’s just signed a deal with the Fox News Network. Oprah says look at your hair- what did you do with your hair? Sarah Palin is live via satellite from her living room in Alaska, she says she is trying to look like Oprah. Oprah says the hair is kinda cute but she’s surprised to see so many curls. The weather in Wasilla is kind of cold, colder than Chicago. Last time Sarah was on Oprah, she dodged the question of whether she would have a talk show. Now she’s signed a multi-year deal with Fox. She will be a contributor, doing some news analysis and will also do some documentaries and specials on finding some real American idols to profile, to put on the spotlight, to have some good role models for our nation. Oprah asks if she’ll leave Alaska to film- she’ll be based out of Alaska and she’ll be traveling around. It’ll be a mixture of coverage highlighting those who face adversity and overcome it. It’s like a full circle, she started in broadcasting and now she’s back there. Her parents are happy that she’s finally putting her college degree to good use.

Oprah says that Time Magazine ran a story asking if Palin is abandoning her aspirations to become President. Palin says she’s not closing any door that she may find open in the future. Maybe politics is in her future, but she’s looking forward to putting her journalism degree to good work. During the campaign, she criticised the media, and now she is part of that. She says she will rachet her coverage down to the basics of journalism, giving the bare facts; the who, what, where and why. Oprah agrees that was what she learned at journalism school. Palin says everyone is engaged in a challenge, a battle, and there are so many good stories out there to give hope and inspiration to others. She wants her kids and everyone else to be inspired by these Americana stories, to make our culture a better place.

Bristol Palin is 19 years old and her name is all over the headlines, she joins us with her mom in their kitchen. Bristol’s son Trip just turned one and Oprah wants to know what’s been the most eye-opening experience of motherhood? Bristol is surprised by the lack of sleep and how hard the daily grind is. A typical day starts at 4am, bathing Trip, going to work, working, coming back, giving him another bath and putting him to bed. Oprah asks why he gets bathed so much- he’s messy apparently. She lives at home so the babies get to grow up together. In In Touch magazine she shared a moment when she sat bawling her eyes out rocking Trip to sleep after he screamed for hours; she felt so alone, when the reality set in that she has a kid, that this is her full-time job. And then her grandmother walked in and said everything will be ok- it’s hard now, but it will be ok. Oprah asks if she has greater respect for her own mom. She does, and while she sometimes wishes she could be with her friends at college, she has a beautiful baby boy.

Oprah says we all have a dream for our kids, and that dream doesn’t usually involve teenage pregnancy. She asks Sarah if she regrets not talking about sex education more with her daughter, does she feel disappointed that her daughter isn’t living the life she could be? Sarah says yes, such lessons they have learned- she wished they’d talked more about unprotected sex, about sex before marriage. She’d assumed that everyone else was doing it, but not her kid. It was a shock to find out Bristol was pregnant- she was an athlete and a great student, the picture of someone who wasn’t supposed to get pregnant in high school. But she’s doing a great job and she is educating others very honestly. Sarah is so proud that Bristol has chosen life, and she has a beautiful baby. Candidly she says Bristol wishes that this would have happened 10 years from now. Oprah tells that she has 336 daughters in her school in South Africa and she constantly tells them to make the decision before the moment arrives, because when the guy is licking on your ear, it’s tough to make the decision. Oprah says she bristled when she read that Bristol won’t have sex until she’s married. Why not make the decision only your own business? It’s Bristol’s goal, and she thinks others should have that goal. Oprah asks if she thinks she’s setting herself up for failure, and Bristol says no.

Sarah says she is pragmatic and practical, and is so proud of Bristol and others who are saying that the only sure-fire way to not get pregnant or get an STD is to be abstinent. Bristol is strong and Sarah says she believes in her, she’s proud of her goal. Rather than conceding that she’ll be haphazard about it all. Oprah interrupts to say 1 in 3 teenagers have sex by age 18, and obviously Bristol’s had sex. Teaching responsibility , teaching judgement is one thing, but Oprah asks, is this a realistic position? The Palin’s think it is a realistic role for Bristol. Oprah says she was going to give Bristol a chance to backtrack, but if Bristol holds to her point of view, more power to her. Sarah asks her daughter if that means that she will get married pretty young, and Bristol shrugs and says she doesn’t know. Sarah says she is constantly telling Bristol that she doesn’t have to go find a man, she’s making good decisions now and she can pursue her education and career and other opportunities. She says the issue is on a backburner for now, and Oprah reminds her that it is not on a backburner when you have a child with you every day.

Oprah asks what they’re having for dinner tonight, Sarah says they had popcorn chicken last night, but don’t tell anyone, she asks Bristol what they should eat tonight, and she says she doesn’t know. Sarah says she thinks she’ll make stew, moose stew sounds good. Oprah thanks them, it’s 9am in Chicago, so 6am in Alaska, so someone had to get up at 3am to start Sarah’s hair. Sarah says no, they always get up at 3am and look just like this. Everyone laughs.

Jeff Bridges got the Golden Globe last week, he dedicated it to his wife of 33 years. His performance in Crazy Heart is being called crazy great; he won the best actor award for his portrayal of addiction and destruction through the life of a washed-up country star. Jeff is live by satellite from rainy California. He turned the role down first time as there was no music attached to it. He ran into T-bone Burnett a year later and they decided to do it together. Has he always been a singer asks Oprah? Jeff says the birth of this movie goes back 30 years ago to Heaven’s Gate. Oprah and Jeff are neighbors and she heard about the film from one of their neighbors who said, hey have you seen Jeff. She said it’s like they’re all rooting for him because they’re in the neighborhood, and it was amazing. When he got a standing ovation from all his colleagues at the Golden Globes it wiped his mind clear, like an Etch-a-Sketch. He could feel the love, it was so strong and powerfull and seeing his wife there brought him back, brought him home. Oprah says we could feel 33 years of sincerity when he spoke to his wife- he says she looked so beautiful that night. His wife told him the other night that they’d been apart for 11 of the last 14 months. Oprah asks what the secret is to having an authentic connection with his wife? Jeff’s folks were a great role model, they were deeply in love despite their struggles. The bumps can be opportunities to make you stronger, then the relationship gets too precious for anything else to get in the way. Talking about the Oscars, he says it’s a double-edged sword; there is the risk of getting on stage and forgetting to thank people, but getting the nod from his peers is wonderful, bringing attention to the movie is great. He says the film was a dream come true- to work with his old friends, they had a wonderful time making it. Oprah wishes him all the best and thanks Jeff Bridges.

Oprah is determined to end the deadly craze of texting on the phone. After Monday’s show, so many responded; they play voiceovers of viewers who are promising never to play texting roulette again, with images of accidents showing behind. Oprah has banned all employees of her company from doing work on cell phones or Blackberries while driving. The executive producer, Sherri, says it’s been hard. One employee puts her phone in the back of the car so she is not tempted to answer the phone or check email. Oprah says she thinks everyone is addicted to checking their cell phones.

Lori, from Canada joins us via Skype, she was the victim of a drunk-driving accident ten years ago. She admitted she would text and drive in an email, then she made the connection. She was sickened by the guests on the show, than realised she texts while driving and is no better than the drunk driver. She says that an in impairment is an impairment- she wants to be proactive not reactive. Oprah thanks Lori for getting it. 40% of the emails they received were from people wanting the show to be re-aired so they can show it to their kids or students. It will be available for viewing on Oprah.com.

Actress Holly Robinson Peete saw the show and said it was an epiphany for the whole family. Her daughter Ryan made her mom sign the pledge because she texts all the time. Holly was judging the people on the show, but Ryan told her that it was her, and Holly realised she has to stop. Holly has an iPhone and a Blackberry and she was on them constantly. So now she realises she had a problem and they printed out the pledge. They are going to make it into an air freshener for the car. They also made a bumber sticker “Honk if you love Jesus. Text if you want to meet him”. Everyone laughs. Oprah says she loves that. Holly says that major reprogramming has to happen in the face of our addiction, just as we once had to get used to wearing seatbelts. She loves that Ryan is so socially conscious- she sent the pledge to the whole family. Holly has an assistant, and we all have to do our part – we have to realise we shouldn’t talk or text other people when they are in their cars. Oprah is teeming up with Progressive Insurance to take this campaign to the next level. There will be more on that soon. Holly and Ryan wrote a book together called”My Brother Charlie” about Ryan’s twin Charlie and living with autism in their family. They, and Scholastic, hope that this book will be in all schools and libraries in the near future. Autism is on the rise, 1 in 50 boys have autism. Oprah says Holly has a highly evolved child. Holly says she’ll keep her.

On saturday one of the producers of the Oprah Show flew to Haiti. 27 year old Madeline has a 7 year old girl and a 5 year old boy. Their father was killed in the earthquake. They are living in a field with other familes, it’s cold and hard to sleep. The kids sleep under her at night. She has a constant struggle for food, she can’t find anything. She relies on leftovers from strangers. She has no money, no way out which makes her really sad. They go to her former home which is rubble. She says her room was not affected, but the rest of the house and the foundation were gone. Her neighbor is surprised to see her alive. She says she has to keep smiling for the kids- she has hope because she has family and she’s still alive. Back in the studio, Oprah talks to the producer, Chris, who gave Madeline as much as she had in her pocket when they had to leave, which may be of use to her in the future. 11 water trucks did come to the area as a result of the media coverage.

There’s only one place to be tonight, in front of your television watching the benefit tonight on MTV at 8pm. It’s your opportunity to give to the people of Haiti. Thanks everyone.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Journalism should be about the who, what, where and why, from which the viewer can make their own judgements

Don’t close any doors which you may find open in the future

If you don’t want people to know what you ate for dinner last night, don’t announce it on the Oprah Winfrey Show

Oprah and Jeff Bridges are neighbors

An impairment is an impairment, be proactive not reactive

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Just because you are a teenage single parent, doesn’t mean you can’t be the poster child for abstinence

Date: January 20th, 2010
File Under: Celebrity, Grief, Public Service Announcement, Tragedy

Episode 9: Help The Victims in Haiti

Live from Chicago. This morning an aftershock of 6.1 was recorded in Haiti. Oprah’s guest today just returned from Haiti a few days ago. He says it’s an apocalypse and the media coverage doesn’t begin to describe it. Wyclef Jean, the most famous person from Haiti; a Grammy award winning musician is here today, you may know him from The Fugees. This show is about Haiti so some of the images will be graphic.

Oprah says that Wyclef is the first person to describe this as an apocalypse. She says she’d said to friends that being there must be like being in hell. Wyclef says it’s like the 7th hell- there’s two things- what you see by the airport and then there is the belly of the beast. He says walking into the city feels like walking into a morgue. For every two blocks, there are 15-16 uncovered bodies, 3 are children. People are running holding their babies, while their babies are already dead. The aid workers can’t do much as there are so many people, and they are out of medication, and people want them to help their children but their children are already dead. Wyclef’s cousin used his Flip camera to go inside the belly of the beast.

As the footage rolls, Wyclef narrates. The first thing they heard were bone chilling screams. This is the worst thing they’ve seen in their lives, the whole country is a morgue, everywhere they walk there are bodies in the street. little kids. They spent hours in the heat moving decomposing bodies. The smell is very bad. the local cemetries are already overflowing, so the survivors are ae digging shallow graves. Their team pulled a fourteen year old out of the rubble, the rest of her family are dead.

Watching the footage, Wyclef remembers that every night they heard the Haitian people sing Amazing Grace. The Haitian people know struggle, despite what they are going through they are still chanting and singing the word of God. Oprah says that they have shown over and over that they are resilient people. Wyclef says the only thing they have is their pride.

Oprah observes that Wyclef’s team had masks on, whilst others did not. He says that the media don’t cover on the news the smell of the bodies. It’s raw meat, it’s animal, like a dead dog that no one has taken care of. Oprah asks about his friends and families. He has lost alot of friends. One of his friends was stopped by the police and a building fell on top of them all. It took two days to get his body out. Oprah says that the inital problem was the lack of heavy equipment. Wyclef says that the people who would drive the tractors are buried under rubble. They can not be where they should be, just like the President and his wife are at the airport. We was warned to be strong for he wouldn’t believe what he would see outside the airport.

About the size of Maryland, a two hour flight from the Florida coast lies Haiti, on the west end of a Carribean island- on the east is the wealthy Dominican Republic.In contrast, Haiti is home to the poorest citizens in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti is the only country on earth which gained independence by a slave rebellion. 9 million people speak two languages- French and Creole. 95% are of African descent. Civil war, violence, famine, corruption, war and countless disasters have wreaked havoc on Haiti but it was felt that Haiti was on a path to success. Bill Clinton said anyone who has seriously followed Haiti for a long time would say that it has the best chance now to break the chains of its lifetime and build a truly modern state. Amazingly the statue of a free slave, which signifies Haiti’s spirit is still standing.

Wyclef was 9 when his family left Haiti and came to the US. He dreamed of making it big in the music business, and both as a member of the Fugees and with his solo career he has been very successful. His passion in life is to get the rest of the world to care about Haiti as much as he does. It is his mission from God, he wants to make a serious dent with his Foundation, a school for young artists in Haiti. On Wednesday, the school was flattened with no survivors. It was in the Jacmel area, which is not talked about much in the news; it is 80% devastated. He and his wife have been trying to help Haiti for a long time- Wyclef says he went from being an ant to a gorilla overnight. Oprah says there has been alot of focus on the non-filing of taxes up until 2009 with his Foundation. He says in 1996 when he did the Grammys he wore a Haiti flag; therefore his pariotism cant be questioned. He says starting a foundation needs the right people around you. Being Haitian, a foundation needs logisitics; helicopters and trucks. No one was focused on the Foundation until they noticed that they raise $1 million a day. A lot of eyebrows were raised, as they are the youngest NGO on the ground. He put his first million into the charity, he has never taken any form of payment from the charity. Oprah says she has 3 foundations and comes under a lot of scrutiny, she says the IRS lives here. She says you need the right people who know the tax laws, was he let down by his people? He says it was poorly ran and moving forward they’ll be stronger than ever. The crown applaud.

Oprah says she heard Wyclef say there should be an exodus from Port-au-Prince, but where would the people go? Wyclef says there are places outside the capital where the US army could set up tents outside of the capital. He wants the tents to be built into communities in the future; we don’t want refugee camps. On Friday Wyclef joins George Clooney and a huge host of stars, for Hope For Haiti Now, a television event, with all proceeds going to Haiti. He’s going back to Haiti on Saturday because the food is being thrown down by helicopter, and he wants them to know that the Haitian people are not animals. He’s going to work on logisitics to distribute food and water more effectively.

Aids, malnutirition and poverty have ravaged Haiti- half of the population is under 18. 300,00 children were orphans before the earthquakes. Parents who can no longer feed children send them to be slaves in wealtheir homes where they are often abused. Tens of thousands of children live on the street eating dirt to surive, just hundreds of miles from our shores.

Rihanna is one of the stars performing for the Hope for Haiti Now TV event on Friday. She’ll be singing with JayZ and Bono. She says, we need your help, everyone should tune in. Today she will sing Bob Marley’s Redemption Song as it is so liberating. She played it as a child when times were difficult, and she still plays it now when her back is up against the wall. She feels the people of Haiti need to hear something uplifting. She sings the song, while images from Haiti are displayed behind her. Oprah gives Rihanna a hug. For the next 48 hours you can download this song, go to Oprah.com to find out how. All the proceeds will go to Haiti. Rihanna’s new album is called Rated R.

Neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr Sanjay Gupta filed some of the first reports out of Haiti. We see footage of a fifteen day old baby with a head injury who needed a doctor. She has a laceration and a fracture, but she’ll be ok. Reports of violence led Belgian doctors to evacuate the Field Hospital, leaving Dr Gupta the only person to care for 25 people overnight. A few days ago, the US military evacuated Dr Gupta out of Haiti to an aircraft carrier several miles off shore. The earthquake had embedded concrete in a 12 year old girls brain- Dr Gupta performed a ninety minute emergency surgery and saved the girls life.

In the studio, Oprah welcomes Dr Gupta via satellite from Port au-Prince. She thanks him and asks about this mornings aftershock. He says it was quite scary, behind him tents have been set up behind him- people are fearful to go back inside buildings with the continued aftershocks. The roads are a disaster, there are piles of rubble everywhere. He says it is hard to imagine how it will all get cleaned up. 6.1 and 5.2 are aftershocks in Haiti, but by any standards they are real earthquakes. They will have to test for trauma to buildings, but the emotional anxiety is very high here. Oprah says she is sure the fear and anxiety level are growing, The most pressing medical problem now, according to Dr Gupta, is that although many people died, many now are barely alive. They have preventable deaths, like crushed limbs. They are walking the streets having kidney failure and heart problems. In any other situation, these injuries are easily treated. 8 days out, these things are not happening, The problem now is distribution- the supplies are at the airports, but the supplies are not getting out where they are needed. In medical emergencies you count time in minutes and hours. So far it has been 8 days…

So many reporters are saying that this is the worst tragedy they have ever seen, worse even than Hurricane Katrina. Dr Gupta says this is the worst because Haiti is one of the most impoverished countries, there is no medical structure and they have one of the worst patient to doctor ratios in the world. From this point, there are infinitely more people needing medical care and infinitely less medical structure. In Katrina, people mainly lived or died, what they needed was food and water. In Haiti the people who lived have catastrophic injuries. They need someone on the ground to oversee the infrastructure. The security concerns are huge, there are soldiers and security there, but doctors are having problems getting in. The problems dovetail, solve the medical problems and the security issues will ease.

Thanks to Dr Gupta. Wyclef is willing to go to Haiti, he needs a taskforce, he knows Haiti. He will be in charge of distribution from the airport to the people of Haiti. He says the need for security will decrease if the medical situation improves.

Giving hope to Haiti is near and dear to singer Maxwell’s heart. He was raised by his Haitian grandmother. He is excited to help the great people of Haiti, today he will sing Fistful of Tears. He sings with images from Haiti playing behind him. Maxwell sings and cries. Oprah hugs him. For the next 48 hours you can download this song from Oprah.com, with all proceeds going to Haiti.

Oprah says they are here to encourage us to watch Hope for Haiti on Friday, it will play on all channels. Maxwell has been devastated by the tragedy. he doesn’t know fully how it feels for others like Wyclef who have lost so many people dear to them. He says “As someone who is you know, you know, my heritage is from there on some level”, he hopes he can stand as a beacon of hope for the Haitians to see there is more than this devastation, that you can grab onto something alot more tighter and secure than what Haiti has been holding on to for the last 200 years. Rihanna says she she goes to bed thinking of the orphans- the children suffer most and they had almost 400,000 orphans before this. The children are hungry and hopeless, they are the next generation, the chidren are our future. Rhianna and her Foundation are helping to rebuild Haiti. After survival, there is so much more to be done. Wyclef tells the Haitians to have unity and strength. The Haitian people told him to say on the show that they don’t need any more photo-ops, what they need is logistics, people to go to the airport and get the stuff out of the airport and to the people. The crowd applauds.

Rhianna and Maxwell donate the proceeds from the downloads of their songs from Oprah.com to Haiti. Watch the benefit on Friday. Thanks.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Wyclef Jean is the most famous person from Haiti, he has a mission from God to help the rest of the world care about Haiti as much as he does

Haiti today is apocalyptic, like the 7th hell

Wyclef Jean would like to manage the distribution of supplies from the airport to the people of Haiti; he will need a taskforce

This tragedy is worse than any other, because those who lived are dying from their injuries, which should be preventable deaths

Celebrities are helping as much as they can, there is a huge benefit on all channels on Friday night

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Haiti needs a new infrastructure to end their apocalypse. Wyclef Jean is on a mission from God

Date: January 18th, 2010
File Under: Grief, Public Service Announcement, Tragedy, Uncategorized
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Episode 7: This Show Could Save Your Life: America’s New Deadly Obsession

This is the start of something really big in America. Oprah is asking us to give up something which we do all too much- texting while driving. This is maybe more dangerous than driving drunk- talking on the phone while driving is the equivalent of having 4 drinks and getting behind the wheel. The audience have taken a pledge to stop texting while driving; they are all wearing pledge t-shirts. Oprah is passionate about the issue and hopes that we will be too, that we will spread the message amongst our families, friends and communities.

The problem is not just texting, but also talking on the phone. They are both part of a dangerous practice called distractive driving. Almost 6 thousand people die, and 1/2 million are injured each year by a driver with their hands off the wheel. Drivers on the phone are 4 times more likely to have an accident than those concentrating on driving. 19 states plus DC have banned texting; in 7 states plus DC one can only use cell phones if they are hands free.

A year ago Shelly and Darren were happily married with 3 girls. On the way home from the doctors, Shelly saw fire trucks at end of her street. There were fire trucks and all these people and a child laying on ground. She had no idea it was her child, but then she saw Erica’s bicycle. The driver was distracted on the phone, and hit Erica face-on with her 5000lb SUV. The neurosurgeon knew she wouldn’t make it. Sheelly spend the night saying goodbye. Erica has gone because of a person on a cell phone.

Shelly’s kids at the time were 13 year old, Jessica, Erica was 9 and Valerie was 4 years old. Shelly was on her way home from doctor, she drove home talking to her dad on her bluetooth headset. She got out the car just at the end of their street, and saw her child laying still. The driver of the SUV said I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see her. The paramedics cut off Erica’s clothes- at this point Shelly realized this was serious. They spent the next two days at the children’s hospital. Darren says that Erica was out on her bike, 30 seconds from their house- 15 pedals from home, when the neighbor called him to say Erica had had an accident.

Oprah strongly believes that the laws need to change- Shelly and Darren are very proactive to try to change the law in Colorado. Shelly does not want anyone else to go through this. Shelly says we are doing too much, we must concentrate on driving- the deaths are not worth a phone call, a text, an email. Don’t talk and drive.

Throughout the show we will hear from more families who have paid the price for our deadly habit. A series of articles in the New York Times inspired this program which Oprah has waned to do for a long time.

In Oxford England- Victoria, 24, was a fashion designer. She got a flat tire, pulled over, put on her hazard lights and called her mother. 3 minutes later, Phillipa Curtis hit the back of the car, killing Victoria instantly. Phillipa was sending emails. Victoria’s mother says that seeing the car brings it all home. You never forget.

Jordan was the most lovable being that his father ever encountered. He was 18 years old, on Mothers Day. Around 4.25pm his parents called him on his cellphone and the line went dead. Soon after, the police came to the door. They went to the hospital, where they were told their son was dead. The father said he let out a primal scream like you hear in the movies. He says you feel like your whole life has died- children should not die before their parents. His job was to protect his son and he couldn’t do it; his son died. They believe he dropped his cell phone, unbuckled his seat belt and bent down to pick it up. He hit a big tree and was killed instantly.

There are two reasons why Utah has the strictest laws against distractive driving. Megan says her dad Keith was her whole world. Before the incident, Jackie was married with two kids and now she is a single parent. Jackie kissed her husband Jim goodbye as he went to pick up his colleague Keith on the way to work. At her work two hours later, Jackie was told he was dead. A 19 year old was texting while driving. Jackie lost Jim and Megan lost her father Keith. They were told the driver of a Tahoe went across the yellow line, hit Keith and Jim- their car span out of control and was blindsided by another vehicle. They were killed instantly. It was hard to believe the news. There was shock, dismay, disbelief. Jackie insisted that Reggie, the 19 year old driver, watched the funeral; he should know who he had killed.

Reggie Shaw was the 19 year old texting while driving instead of focusing on the road. He admits he was texting, he clipped another vehicle sending it into traffic. Opra appreciates that he is here. Reggie texted maybe almost 100% of the time while driving, as did most of his friends. Oprah finds this hard to believe, knows we can’t do this at the same time as driving, perhaps because she is an older person. Reggie says he never thought about it. Oprah says she does not use the word stupid much, and she isn’t calling Reggie stupid, but she says it is a stupid thing to do, to take your eyes off the road. In Reggie’s Driver’s Ed he says that no one mentioned how dangerous texting while driving is. He felt terrible when he discovered that he’d killed two people. He says it never gets easier. It affects his life every day. He can’t forgive himself for his bad choice. He can’t sleep at night; every day is hard.

Oprah says for every single person who texts, we could be looking at ourself when we look at Reggie in this chair. He didn’t mean to do it, it could happen to any of us. Oprah asks if he thought he could text and drive safely at the same time. He says of course he did but one second later this poor choice took two people’s lives. Reggie speaks out at high schools and gatherings; he explains to high schoolers that it is absolutely not safe to take your mind off the road. In the aftermath of this accident, Utah passed some of the strictest laws. Reggie was an essential part of this- he approached lawmakers to hasten the laws. Jackie says she has forgiven him; he went above and beyond his punishment in some cases. Oprah asks what his punishment was. He did 30 days in jail and 30 days of community service. Oprah asks if he thinks that he was in jail long enough. Reggie thinks how hard it was for him in jail, and thinks about the two lives lost, and he doesn’t know if it was long enough. Oprah thanks him for his honesty and for coming on the show.

AJ was a presence; goofy and funny and he had an amazing smile. On Dec 3rd, 2007, his mother was coming down the street and saw an accident ahead- she saw that it was her son’s car. At the hospital the doctors said they did all the could but they could not save him. He rolled through a stop sign into the path of a garbage truck. he was texting his girlfriend. The accident was 100% preventable. We are not talking about statistics, we are talking about mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, aunties, and uncles. She says that her son is not a number, not a statistic, he was her son.

Linda was 61 years old. A little over a year ago, the family lost their hero. A 23 year old driver t-boned Linda’s car at a light. He was engrossed in in a conversation on his cell phone. Linda’s daughter, Jennifer. says seeing the seat was the hardest part. She asks us to put our loved one in that seat, is that phone call worth it? Before her accident, Jennifer who is a realtor, used her car as her office. Even with a headset, she says you should not talk while driving- it’s not where your hands are, it’s where your head is. The man who killed her mother was on the phone for less than a minutes, his brain couldn’t handle it, he didn’t see the light. You can’t do it, you are not Superman. She has a bumper sticker that says “someone talking on their cell phone while driving killed my mom”.

Dr David Strayer, a professsor at the University of Utah says our brain doesn’t work the way we’d like it too- we can’t multitask the way we think we can. Many people think they are safer drivers, but we are not. Texting makes it like a multitude of drunks on the road says Oprah. David says it is worse than drunks- you are 8 times more likely to crash while texting, drunk driving is equivalent to talking on a phone- you are 4 times more likely to have accident. Talking on the phone gives us tunnel vision. Your brain won’t let you take in all the information. We have inattention blindness- you see about half of the visual information in front of us. The brain can’t take in all the information; we are not wired to multitask that way. We miss quite a bit.

In 2008 a San Antonia bus driver was caught on video driving and texting while in rush hour traffic. He looked up to the camera a split second before slamming on his brakes and ploughing into the car ahead. Months later in LA, a train driver so distracted sending and receiving over 40 text messages, missed a red light and his commuter train crashed into a freight train. 135 were injured. 25, including the conductor, were killed, making it the 2nd worst commuter train accident in US history. Weeks later, a school bus with 21 students was rammed by an 18 wheeler, when stopped with its blinkers on The bus was pushed over 200 feet before it burst into flames. 20 students escaped but one was tragically killed. The driver of the 18 wheeler admitted he was distracted on the phone and did not see that the bus had stopped.

71% people age 18-49 admit they text or talk on the phone while they drive. If you do that and think you’re safe, the next three guests are right there with you. Sean, a father of 4, thinks he has great driving and texting skills. Carly, a stay at home mom of 2, once found herself in the opposite lane while texting. Jen is a 19 year old college student and self-procclaimed super-texter. To gauge how dangerous their driving/ texting habits are, they went to do some driving tests. They were tested for reaction times stopping at a red light, and had to complete a slalom to measure deviation from their path. Each test was done twice; once concentrating on driving and again while texting and driving.

Jen hit a cone while texting, as did Sean, as did Carly. Jen felt she was out of control, Sean found the test hard- he sees this as a wake-up call. Carly thinks she’s very lucky that nothing has happened to her to date.

Gerard Ball, the editor at Car and Driver Magazine, analysed the data results of the road tests.. The results are dramatic. The reaction times increase greatly- there is a 22 ft difference in reaction time. This could be a huge difference between stopping or hitting someone. Oprah puts Carly on the spot saying she went into other lane before while texting, but now says the driving test has changed her life. Carly wants to spread the word and make a change in her city, to stop these 100% preventable accidents. Jen thought she could do it because all high school and college students text and drive. She feels that if all kids did the road test, she is 120% sure that the bad habits would stop. Sean was really cocky about texting and driving, he felt he was invincible. His wife always called him on it- he found the the test to be a big wake-up call. He went into the test thinking he could do it all. Now he realises that these accidents could have been him or his family. His wife was very infuriated by his behavior. He is a defensive football player, and that attitude spilled into his driving.

Oprah calls on us to make our cars a No Phone Zone, we can take the pledge on Oprah.com and pass it on via Twitter and Facebook. She urges that we make this show the end of being on the phone in the car. She asks us to take another look at the faces of the children, husbands, fathers, mothers who were killed by a distracted driver… and look at the loved ones left behind who carry that pain for the rest of their lives. She says we should think about that next time we are tempted to use your phone when driving.

Don’t tempt fate, that text or call when wait. Believe it. Thanks everybody.

WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY:

Talking on the phone while driving is as unsafe as driving with 4 drinks in your system- you are 4 times more likely to have an accident

Texting is twice as dangerous as talking while driving- statistically you are 8 times more likely to have an accident

Distractive driving is responsible for six thousand deaths and half a million injuries per year

These numbers are not just statistics, they are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers

These accidents are 100% preventable

A VERY QUICK SUMMARY:

Don’t tempt fate, that text or call when wait. Believe it.