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Rundown 7/15

22:06
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Goldman Sachs, the "Bubble Machine"

The financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs just posted its biggest quarterly profit ever in it 140-year history. How did they do this, just months after receiving federal bailout money? Our guest, Matt Taibbi, writes about Goldman Sachs in Rolling Stone. He says the firm has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression, and is about to do it again.

How's the Bank Bailout Working, and What Kind of Help Do Consumers Need?

We'll speak with Elizabeth Warren, Harvard law professor and chair of the congressional panel to oversee the U.S. bank bailout. Warren is also one of the movers behind the White House's proposal to create a new Consumer Finance Protection Agency.

Entrepreneur Explores Space

Entrepreneur Elon Musk, who co-founded PayPal, has turned his attention to SPACEX, which he hopes will become the first private company to take astronauts into space. Musk's vision for future space exploration includes commercial private space flights and settlement on Mars.

Return to the Moon

A quarter moon is visible in this oblique view of Earth's horizon and airglow, recorded with a digital still camera on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2003, aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The six Americans and one Israeli aboard Columbia marked their 12th day in space Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003. Their round-the-clock laboratory research mission, featuring more than 80 experiments, is due to end with a landing back at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. (AP Photo/NASA)
A quarter moon is visible on Earth's horizon, from aboard space shuttle Columbia on Jan. 26, 2003 (AP)

It's been 40 years since astronaut Neil Armstrong took his one small step for man on the surface of the moon. President Bush set a goal of establishing a permanent human presence there by 2020. But with a recession and a $50 billion mission price tag, is there a good reason to go back? Our guest is David Mindel, professor of the history of technology at MIT and author of  the book "Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Space Flight."

The "Harry Potter" Franchise

The movie "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" is finally out. It's the latest film in the lucrative Potter franchise. The BBC's Vincent Dowd reports on the concept of the franchise film and whether it's changing the film industry.

Music from the Show

  • Ahmad Jamal, "Patterns"
  • Freddie Hubbard, "Little Sunflower"
  • Peter Dixon, "Nagog Woods"
  • Ken Vandermark, "Knock Yourself Out"
  • John Williams, “Hedwig’s Theme,” from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" original motion picture soundtrack

This program aired on July 15, 2009.

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