The passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy was a momentous occasion, so we spent the entire first hour looking at the man, his issues and his legacy. Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Xavier Becerra provided insights about what it was like working with Kennedy, and the long shadow he cast over both houses of Congress. NPR political editor Ken Rudin offered perspective on how Kennedy's death will affect the legislative agenda. And we even had an official Senate historian on hand to help define Kennedy's impact after almost a half-century in the chamber. But the best part for me was taking your calls and hearing the recollections of people who met or knew Kennedy. He was a flawed man, to be sure. But he was also a great politician. We could use more like him.

I'm glad we were able to examine both sides in the L.A. School Board's decision to turn over as many as 250 campuses to charter schools or other outside interests. Mayor Villaraigosa made the case for why this is a good thing. The head of the teachers' union took an opposing stance. And Superintendent Ray Cortines landed somewhere in the middle as he explained how the transition could work. As a parent with a child in the public school system, I can only hope this marks a turning point for the system. And I hope that all players in this equation remember that it's not about special interests -- it's about the kids.

Speaking of which, I very much enjoyed our chat with Alison Gopnik about her book on how babies think. Such a mysterious landscape, but I thought she did a good job of deciphering what the research tells us. And I agree with her core finding: Babies are a lot smarter than most people realize. They just have a hard time telling anyone.

See you tomorrow.

-- David Lazarus

It was enlightening listening to Elizabeth Warren describe the progress (or lack thereof) in getting all those toxic assets off the books of big banks. Ten months down the road -- hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars later -- and we're basically no closer to resolving this problem. Heck, we don't even know how much bad debt the banks are holding. How can this have happened? And why isn't anyone in Congress demanding greater accountability? I guess those are questions for another day.

I played with the new-and-improved Google search engine before the show. It was pretty slick. But then again, so is the original Google. My hunch is that most of the changes are under the hood where few of us will notice a difference. But I admire that Google is always thinking about how to make its products better -- even when they already dominate the market.

Our discussion of healthcare, as is always the case, left me more frustrated than satisfied -- frustrated, that is, because the problem is so huge and we're so far from a reasonable solution. But big props to everyone associated with the free-healthcare event at the Forum. I agree with the callers who suggested that a little pro bono work should be required for all healthcare practitioners. If for no other reason, to score some really good karma.

Digital stalking? Locational privacy? Yes, I suppose these are legitimate problems. But I'm resigned to the idea that in a digital world, we have precious little privacy left. They (whoever "they" may be) know where we are and what we're doing at all hours of the day. But still ... I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea that my cellphone is broadcasting my whereabouts every second.

As for that segment on the chances of a huge asteroid hitting the Earth ... yes, it's possible I may have let glibness get the better of me and had a bit too much fun during our discussion. So sue me. Any segment that begins with a clip from "Armageddon" is honor-bound to indulge in a bit of silliness.

Unless Bruce Willis says otherwise, of course.

Patt's back tomorrow. Thanks for having me.

-- David Lazarus