FORA.tv - Video Program of the Week

SuperFreakonomics with Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:11:11 -0800

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner talk about their book, SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on November 4, 2009.

With Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner revealed the good, bad, ugly and super freaky of the world around us.

The freakquel is here. Back with more than pop-culture trivia, Inforum's next 21st Century Visionary Award recipients are ready to revolutionize our understanding of causality in an incredibly interconnected world. - Commonwealth Club of California

Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author and journalist who lives in New York City. He is the co-author, with Steven D. Levitt, of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. He is also the author of Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family (1998), Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (2003), and a children's book, The Boy With Two Belly Buttons (2007).

Steve Levitt is the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. Levitt received his BA from Harvard University in 1989 and his PhD from MIT in 1994. He has taught at Chicago since 1997. In 2004, Levitt was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the most influential economist under the age of 40. In 2006, he was named one of Time magazine's "100 People Who Shape Our World."

Alan Murray is a Deputy Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal and Executive Editor for the Journal Online. He also has editorial responsibility for Wall Street Journal television, books, conferences, and the MarketWatch web site.

Barbara Ehrenreich - Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:52:37 -0800

Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich talks about her latest book, Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on October 24, 2009.

Barbara Ehrenreich presents a sharp-witted knockdown of America's love affair with positive thinking and an urgent call for a new commitment to realism.

Americans are a "positive" people -- cheerful, optimistic, and upbeat: this is our reputation as well as our self-image. But more than a temperament, being positive, we are told, is the key to success and prosperity.

In this utterly original take on the American frame of mind, Barbara Ehrenreich traces the strange career of our sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude. Evangelical mega-churches preach the good news that you only have to want something to get it, because God wants to "prosper" you. The medical profession prescribes positive thinking for its presumed health benefits. Academia has made room for new departments of "positive psychology" and the "science of happiness."

Nowhere, though, has bright-siding taken firmer root than within the business community, where, as Ehrenreich shows, the refusal even to consider negative outcomes -- like mortgage defaults -- contributed directly to the current economic crisis. - Commonwealth Club of California

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of thirteen books, including the New York Times bestseller Nickel and Dimed. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Harpers, and the Progressive, she is a contributing writer to Time magazine. She lives in Florida.

Rick Steves - Travel As a Political Act

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:27:45 -0800

Acclaimed travel writer Rick Steves addresses the Commonwealth Club of California, on October 28, 2009.

Spending four months a year overseas, Rick Steves believes that thoughtful travel can expand our world view and shape how we address the political challenges that confront our country.

This popular speaker returns to The Commonwealth Club to provide a unique perspective on how the other 96 percent of humanity views our country and why we should "challenge truths we were raised to think were self-evident" in order to become citizens of the planet. - Commonwealth Club of California

Rick Steves grew up in Edmonds, Washington and studied at the University of Washington where he received degrees in Business Administration and European History. Since 1973, he has spent 120 days a year in Europe.

Today he employs 80 people at his Europe Through the Back Door headquarters in Edmonds where he produces 30 guidebooks on European travel, the most popular travel series in America on public television, a weekly hour-long national public radio show, and a weekly column syndicated by the Chicago Tribune.

Richard Dawkins - The Evidence for Evolution

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:12:39 -0700

Celebrated biologist Richard Dawkins talks about his book, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. This program was recorded in collaboration with Berkeley Arts and Letters, on October 7, 2009.

Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion created a storm of controversy over the question of God's existence. Now, in The Greatest Show on Earth, Dawkins presents a stunning counterattack against advocates of "Intelligent Design" that explains the evidence for evolution while keeping an eye trained on the absurdities of the creationist argument.

More than an argument of his own, it's a thrilling tour into our distant past and into the interstices of life on earth. Taking us through the case for evolution step-by-step, Dawkins looks at DNA, selective breeding, anatomical similarities, molecular family trees, geography, time, fossils, vestiges and imperfections, human evolution, and the formula for a strong scientific theory.

Dawkins' trademark wit and ferocity is joined by an infectious passion for the beauty and strangeness of the natural world, proving along the way that the mechanisms of the natural world are more miraculous -- a "greater show" -- than any creation story generated by any religion on earth. - Berkeley Arts and Letters

Richard Dawkins is a world-renowned evolutionary biologist and author. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and, until recently, held the Charles Simonyi Chair of Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. His first book, The Selfish Gene, was an instant international bestseller, and has become an established classic work of modern evolutionary biology.

He is also the author of The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, A Devil's Chaplain, The Ancestor's Tale The God Delusion, and most recently, The Greatsest Show on Earth.

Professor Dawkins's awards have included the Silver Medal of the Zoological Society of London (1989), the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Award (1990), the Nakayama Prize for Achievement in Human Science (1990), The International Cosmos Prize (1997) and the Kistler Prize (2001).

He has Honorary Doctorates in both literature and science, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Cornel West - Living and Loving Out Loud: A Conversation with Tavis Smiley

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:01:14 -0700

Philosopher, civil rights activist, and social critic Cornel West in conversation with Tavis Smiley. This program was recorded in collaboration with Los Angeles Public Library, on October 9, 2009.

In this intimate exploration, one of America's most gifted and provocative public intellectuals peels back the layers of a remarkable life.

Cornel West is a philosopher, author, critic, and civil rights activist. His works include The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought, Race Matters, and The African-American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Century.

Tavis Smiley is a broadcaster, author, advocate and philanthropist. TIME Magazine honored Smiley in 2009 as one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People." He is currently the host of the late night television talk show, "Tavis Smiley" on PBS and "The Tavis Smiley Show" distributed by Public Radio International (PRI). In 2007, Smiley made television history as the moderator and executive producer of the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS, the first Democratic and Republican presidential debates broadcast live in primetime with a panel exclusively comprised of journalists of color.

In addition to his radio andtelevision work, Smiley has authored fourteen books. His memoir, What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America, was a New York Times bestseller.

Po Bronson and Ayelet Waldman - The Secret Lives of Parents Revealed

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:09:00 -0700

Parent-authors Po Bronson and Ayelet Waldman discuss the reality of less-than-perfect parenting. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on September 30, 2009.

Although your kids may make you want to rip out your hair and scream bloody murder, must parents remain calm, forgiving and extremely patient? Not anymore. Blogs and web sites like True Mom Confessions are revealing intimate truths about parenting and forcing us to reconsider what it means to be a "good parent."

Waldman, branded a "bad mother" after stating she loves her husband more than her children, and Bronson, science writer turned parenting investigator, share their experiences, discuss their perspectives on current distorted parenting habits and explore a new way of thinking about kids. - Commonwealth Club of California

Po Bronson has built a career both as a successful novelist and as a prominent writer of narrative nonfiction. He has published five books, and he has written for television, magazines, and newspapers, including Time, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and for National Public Radio's Morning Edition. Currently he is writing regularly for New York magazine in the United States and for The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom.

Po Bronson's book of social documentary, What Should I Do With My Life?, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and remained in the Top 10 for nine months.

Ayelet Waldman is the author of Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace, a collection of essays. Ayelet is also the author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Daughter's Keeper and the Mommy-Track Mysteries. Her essays have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and newspapers.

The film version of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is now in the post-production, with Don Roos as screenwriter and director, and Natalie Portman in the lead role.

Regan McMahon is the author of Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports. She is deputy book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. She is a book critic, feature writer and the children's book editor for the paper, where she has worked for many years.

Noam Chomsky: Philosophies of Language and Politics

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:18:42 -0700

Noam Chomsky, MIT professor of linguistics and philosopy, in conversation with Larry Bensky. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on October 6, 2009.

World-renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky has been pushing change in language, politics and culture for decades. The controversial expert on modern language explains why "the smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." - Commonwealth Club of California

Noam Chomsky, a professor of linguistics and philosophy at MIT, is the author of numerous books on U.S. foreign policy, including American Power and the New Mandarins, Political Economy of Human Rights (two volumes, written with Edward Herman), Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians, and Pirates and Emperors, Old and New: International Terrorism in the Real World. His most recent books are Failed States and Perilous Power.

Larry Bensky is a literary and political journalist with more than forty years experience in both print and broadcast media, as well as a teacher and long-time political activist. He is well known for his work with Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California, and for the many nationally-broadcast hearings he anchored for the Pacifica network.

Dambisa Moyo - Dead Aid: Finding a Better Way For Africa

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:40:20 -0700

Dambisa Moyo talks about her book, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, in a conversation with Peter Robinson. This program was recorded as a part of the Hoover Institution's interview series, "Uncommon Knowledge," on June 5, 2009.

During the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Dambisa Moyo asserts, however, that this assistance has made African people no better off. "Africa's real per capita income today is lower than in the 1970s, with over half of the 700 million Africans living on less than a dollar a day."

Eschewing the "glamour aid" of celebrities such as Bob Geldof and Bono, she argues that the key to transforming African countries is to make them less reliant on foreign aid and compel them to "enforce rules of prudence and not live beyond their means." - Hoover Institution

Dambisa Moyo was born and raised in Zambia, Southern Africa. She completed a PhD in Economics at Oxford University and holds a Master's from Harvard University. She completed a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and MBA in Finance at the American University in Washington D.C.

She worked at Goldman Sachs for 8 years in the debt capital markets, hedge fund coverage and in global macroeconomics teams. Previously, she worked at the World Bank in Washington D.C. Dambisa is a member of the Boards of Lundin Petroleum and SAB Miller.

Moyo is a Patron for Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), a hedge fund supported children's charity. She serves on the Boards of the Lundin for Africa Foundation and Room to Read, an educational charity.

Moyo argues for more innovative ways for Africa to finance development including trade with China, accessing the capital markets, and microfinance.

Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he writes about business and politics, edits Hoover's quarterly journal, the Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover's television program, Uncommon Knowledge.

A.J. Jacobs - The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:36:12 -0700

An acclaimed journalist and a best-selling author, A.J. Jacobs takes journalistic commitment to a whole new level. His experimental and "experiential" undertakings have led him from conquering all 32 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica to outsourcing his entire life to India (yes, even his children's bedtime stories).

In the 2007 best-seller, The Year of Living Biblically, stoning adulterers and growing facial hair were just part of the fun when he decided to follow the literal rules of the Bible in a modern America. Join us as Jacobs dishes on his unorthodox lifestyle as detailed in this year's The Guinea Pig Diaries. - Commonwealth Club of California

AJ Jacobs is an editor at Esquire magazine. He's the author of The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, about his year spent reading the encyclopedia from a-ak to Zywiec.

He is also the author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, about his attempt to abide by all the rules in the Bible, from the Ten Commandments to stoning adulterers. He also wrote the articles My Outsourced Life and I Think You're Fat.

David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning, best-selling author of six books and numerous essays, articles and short stories, and a television, radio and film producer and correspondent. He is the co-host of NPR's Biotech Nation. Duncan's most recent book is Experimental Man: What one man’s body reveals about his future, your health, and our toxic world (John Wiley). His last book was Masterminds: Genius, DNA and the Quest to Rewrite Life (Harper Perennial).

Michael Sandel on Markets and Morals

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:31:23 -0700

Recorded in collaboration with the Chautauqua Institution, on July 20, 2009.

Harvard Professor Michael Sandel deliveres a speech titled "Markets and Morals" as part of the Chautauqua Institution 2009 Summer Lecture Series.

He tackles some of economist's toughest ethical questions, such as the business of commercial surrogacy and the price of citizenship. - Chautauqua Institution

Michael J. Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught political philosophy since 1980. He is the author of Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (Cambridge University Press, 1982, 2nd edition, 1997; translated into eight foreign languages), Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy (Harvard University Press, 1996), Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics (Harvard University Press, 2005), and The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering (Harvard University Press, 2007). His writings also appear in general publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, and The New York Times.

Tom Ridge - The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:05:05 -0700

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Hudson Union Society, in New York, NY, on September 2, 2009.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge talks with Hudson Union Society's Joe Pascal about his latest book, The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...And How We Can Be Safe Again. They discuss his experiences as the man in charge of America's national security, as well as his advice for the Obama administration. - Hudson Union Society

Tom Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives (1983-1995), Governor of Pennsylvania (1995-2001), Assistant to the President for Homeland Security (2001-2003), and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2003-2005).

Since re-entering the private sector, Ridge has served on the boards of The Home Depot and The Hershey Company and as a senior advisor to Deloitte and Touche, and TechRadium. Ridge is also the founder and CEO of Ridge Global, LLC, a Washington, D.C. based security consulting firm.

George Lakoff - The Politics of Language

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:27:17 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/08/03/Politics_of_Language_George_Lakoff

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, in Lafayette, CA, on August 3, 2009.

George Lakoff makes plain how the words used by politicians translate to the public's support for various political issues. Language matters - especially when it comes to politics.

A founder of the field of cognitive science, Lakoff takes an in-depth look at the ways in which our brains understand politics, breaking down the politics of language. - Commonwealth Club of California

George P. Lakoff is a professor of linguistics (in particular, cognitive linguistics) at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1972. Although some of his research involves questions traditionally pursued by linguists, such as the conditions under which a certain linguistic construction is grammatically viable, he is most famous for his ideas about the centrality of metaphor to human thinking, political behavior and society. He is particularly famous for his concept of the "embodied mind" which he has written about in relation to mathematics. In recent years he has applied his work to the realm of politics, and founded a progressive think tank, the Rockridge Institute.

Joseph S. Tuman is Professor of Political and Legal Communications in the Department of Communication Studies at San Francisco State University, where he has taught and researched for twenty years.

Karen Armstrong - A Charter for Compassion

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:41:54 -0700

Author and TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong discusses the role of compassion in modern life. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Chautauqua Institution, on August 14, 2009.

Karen Armstrong describes how Islam, Judaism and Christianity have been diverted from a shared moral purpose. She now is working with the TED community to build a Charter for Compassion. - Chautauqua Institution

Karen Armstrong is one of the most provocative, original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world. Armstrong is a former Roman Catholic nun who left a British convent to pursue a degree in modern literature at Oxford. In 1982 she wrote a book about her seven years in the convent, Through the Narrow Gate, that angered and challenged Catholics worldwide; her recent book The Spiral Staircase discusses her subsequent spiritual awakening after leaving the convent, when she began to develop her iconoclastic take on the great monotheistic religions. She has written more than 20 books around the ideas of what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common, and around their effect on world events, including the magisterial A History of God and Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World. Her latest book is The Bible: A Biography. Her meditations on personal faith and religion (she calls herself a freelance monotheist) spark discussion — especially her take on fundamentalism, which she sees in a historical context, as an outgrowth of modern culture.

Tweeting for Revolution in Iran

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:37:20 -0700

Atlantic writers Andrew Sullivan, James Fallows, and Jeffrey Goldberg discuss the ways new social networking technology, like Twitter, enabled massive and fast organization of protests in Iran following the results of the recent election. Mark Whitaker moderates the discussion. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Aspen Institute's 2009 Aspen Ideas Festival, on July 1, 2009.

James Fallows is The Atlantic Monthly's National Correspondent, and has worked for the magazine for more than twenty years. His previous books include Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, Looking at the Sun, More Like Us and National Defense, which won the American Book Award for non-fiction. His article about the consequences of victory in Iraq, "The Fifty First State?," won the 2003 National Magazine Award.

Jeffrey Goldberg is an author and a staff writer for The Atlantic Monthly, having previously worked for The New Yorker. Goldberg has written extensively on foreign affairs, with a focus on the Middle East and Africa. Previously, he was a writer for the New York Times Magazine, covering the Middle East and Africa. He began his career as a police reporter for the Washington Post.

Andrew Sullivan is a British blogger, author, and political commentator. Sullivan is sometimes considered a pioneer in political weblog journalism, since he was one of the first prominent political journalists in the United States to start his own personal blog. Sullivan wrote his blog for a year at Time Magazine, shifting on 1 February 2007 to The Atlantic, where it received approximately 40 million page views in the first year. He is the former editor of The New Republic and the author of five books.

Mark Whitaker is Senior Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News. He oversees all Washington-based reporting and production for NBC and MSNBC, has executive responsibility for "Meet the Press" and supervises the network's election and political coverage, in addition to appearing as an on-air analyst.

Elizabeth Loftus - What's the Matter with Memory?

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:16:21 -0700

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Chautauqua Institution, on July 14, 2009.

Elizabeth Loftus, psychologist and distinguished professor at the University of California, Irvine, discusses the prevalence of false memories.

She describes her own experiments in creating false memories, and explains how this impacts fields ranging from law to dieting. - Chautauqua Institution

Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Irvine, studies human memory. Her experiments reveal how memories can be changed by things that we are told. Facts, ideas, suggestions and other post-event information can modify our memories. The legal field, so reliant on memories, has been a significant application of the memory research. She is also interested in psychology and law, more generally.

Janet Yellen - A View of the Economy from the Federal Reserve

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:08:31 -0700

Amid the deepest recession of the postwar era, the Federal Reserve faces one of the gravest challenges of its 96-year history.

Janet Yellen, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, assesses the state of the economy while explaining the thinking and the actions behind some of the Fed's precedent-shattering initiatives to rescue a financial system in crisis and help jump-start economic growth. - Commonwealth Club

Janet L. Yellen took office on June 14, 2004, as president and chief executive officer of the Twelfth District Federal Reserve Bank, at San Francisco. In 2009, she serves as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Dr. Yellen is professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley where she was the Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business and Professor of Economics and has been a faculty member since 1980.

Howard Dean - A Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:42:06 -0700

Howard Dean talks about his book, Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer. This program was recorded in collaboration with Book Passage, in San Francisco, CA, on July 23, 2009.

Howard Dean, a physician and the former governor of Vermont, tells us what needs to be done to successfully reform healthcare. One key, he writes, is to offer Americans the option to participate in a public healthcare program, much like Medicare. Dean was chair of the Democratic National Committee during the recent Presidential election. - Book Passage

Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from the U.S. state of Vermont. He served six terms as Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination. He was the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009.

Before entering politics, Dean received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978. Dean was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1982 and was elected lieutenant governor in 1986. Both were part-time positions that enabled him to continue practicing medicine.

Lewis Black - Me Of Little Faith

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:34:03 -0700

Comedian Lewis Black discusses his latest book Me Of Little Faith with Bob Schieffer as part of the Aspen Institute's Aspen Ideas Festival 2009. This program was recorded on July 1, 2009.

Lewis Black is a stand-up comedian, actor, playwright, and author. He performs over 200 nights a year and is one of only a few performers to sell out theaters like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the MGM Grand.

Black is regularly featured on "The Daily Show" and has worked on numerous TV shows and projects for Comedy Central. He has made seven comedy albums, including The Carnegie Hall Performance, which won the 2007 Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

Black has also taped two HBO specials, including "Red, White and Screwed," and has written two books; his most recent is Me of Little Faith (Riverhead Books, 2008). Additionally, Black has penned over 40 plays, mentors at the 52nd Street Project, created the Carolina Comedy Festival, and has toured with the USO.

Christopher Hitchens - The Axis of Evil, Revisited

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:36:52 -0700

Journalist Christopher Hitchens discusses current events in the three countries formerly known as the "Axis of Evil": Iran, Iraq and North Korea. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, in Palo Alto, CA, on July 9, 2009.

Acclaimed writer and political scholar Christopher Hitchens may just be the only writer to have recently visited Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Hitchens - known for his keen wit, sharp political insight and often controversial opinions - examines the differences between the countries once linked as the "axis of evil," while revealing intriguing connections between the nations. - Commonwealth Club of California

Christopher Hitchens is an author, journalist and literary critic. Now living in Washington, D.C., he has been a columnist at Vanity Fair, The Nation and Slate; additionally, he is an occasional contributor to many other publications.

Novella Carpenter and Michael Pollan - The Education of an Urban Farmer

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:35:34 -0700

Novella Carpenter discusses her book, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, in a conversation with author Michael Pollan. This program was recorded in collaboration with Berkeley Arts and Letters, on June 18, 2009.

Michael Pollan is the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, a New York Times bestseller. His previous books include The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (2001); A Place of My Own (1997); and Second Nature (1991). A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism.

Novella Carpenter grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. She majored in biology and English at the University of Washington in Seattle. While attending Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, she studied under Michael Pollan for two years. Her writing has appeared on Salon.com, Saveur.com, sfgate.com, and in Mother Jones.

Dave McLean - The Science of a Good Beer

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:31:11 -0700

Brewmaster Dave McLean details the science of beer, from the perspective of a craft brewer. This program was recorded in collaboration with Down to a Science, in San Francisco, CA, on June 15, 2009.

Most of the time when we order up some beers, we're just happy to put that life-giving elixir into our bellies, especially after a rough work week. But it isn't often that we actually consider how the delicious beer is created.

Sure, we know that you need hops, whatever those are, and water, and some other stuff, and then you put it in a pot and ... then ... beer happens? Not quite. - Down to a Science

Dave McLean has a degree in brewing science from UC Davis and is the owner and brewmaster at San Francisco's Magnolia Pub and Brewery.

Christina Romer - The Economic Case for Health Care Reform

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:31:11 -0700

Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Obama, discusses the Obama administration's integrated economic recovery strategy, with particular focus on the importance of a healthy credit market in promoting U.S. recovery and future economic growth. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on June 8, 2009.

Romer says the stimulus package is important for job creation and investing in the U.S.'s infrastructure, but comprehensive economic recovery also includes the financial stability plan announced by U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, designed to open up the flow of credit that families and businesses depend on in the course of their everyday lives. - Commonwealth Club of California

Christina Romer is Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Romer was the Class of 1957-Garff B. Wilson Professor of Economics at the University of California Berkeley. Before teaching at Berkeley, she taught economics and public affairs at Princeton University from 1985-1988. Until her nomination, she was co-director of the Program in Monetary Economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research and served as Vice President of the American Economic Association, where she was also a member of the executive committee. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Romer is known for her research on the causes and recovery of the Great Depression, and on the role that fiscal and monetary policy played in the country’s economic recovery. Her most recent work, authored with her husband David Romer, also an economics professor, shows the impact of tax policy on government and economic growth.

Michael Lewis on Fatherhood, Sports, and the End of Wall Street

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:55:07 -0700

Michael Lewis, bestselling author of Liar's Poker and one of the most trenchant commentators on the current financial crisis, speaks to the Hudson Union Society. This program was recorded on June 1, 2009.

Michael Lewis is an American contemporary non-fiction author. His bestselling books include Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. He is most recently the author of Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood.

Mythbuster Adam Savage's Colossal Failures

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:01:38 -0700

The 4th annual Maker Faire Bay Area hosts MythBusters co-host Adam Savage. Savage talks about failure - unmitigated, colossal failures he's experienced during his career. This program was recorded on May 30, 2009.

Following on President Obama's call to "begin again the work of remaking America," Maker Faire 2009 was organized around the theme of Re-Make America. Held in the San Francisco Bay Area, Maker Faire celebrates what President Obama called "the risk takers, the doers, and the makers of things." - Maker Faire 2009

Adam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what's in his brain and make it real. He's built everything from ancient Buddhas to futuristic weapons, from spaceships to dancing vegetables, from fine art sculptures to animated chocolate and just about anything else you can think of.

Since 1993, Adam has concentrated on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and the Matrix sequels. He's also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey's, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies. Not only has he worked and consulted in the research and development division for toy companies and made several short films, but Adam has also acted in several films and commercials -- including a Charmin ad, in which he played Mr. Whipple's stock boy, and a Billy Joel music video, "Second Wind," in which he drowns.

Today, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel's MythBusters, Adam teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Somehow he also finds time to devote to his own art. His sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.Va.

Michael Eric Dyson - Can You Hear Me Now?

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:47:18 -0700

Sociologist and cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson talks about his book, Can You Hear Me Now? This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on May 27, 2009.

Named one of the 100 most influential black Americans by Ebony magazine, Dyson touches on politics, the arts and the personal, including justice, poverty, faith and spirituality.

Known as the "hip-hop" intellectual, he examines issues of class, race and poverty, and political strife. - Commonwealth Club of California

Michael Eric Dyson, named by Ebony as one of the hundred most influential black Americans, is the author of sixteen books, including Holler if You Hear Me, Is Bill Cosby Right? and I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr. He is currently University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Alain de Botton - The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:31:17 -0700

Author Alain de Botton talks about his book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. This program was recorded in Melbourne, Australia, on April 23, 2009.

For most people the word work is synonymous with jobs, labor and occupations. The things we do to pay the rent. The mundane routine can often overshadow the nuances of the work that we do.

In this talk at RMIT in Melbourne, philosopher Alain de Botton reminds us of the importance of appreciating the details of work and workplaces. In this way we can have a greater understanding of the impact our daily tasks have on culture and society, or perhaps decide that it's time for a new career. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Alain de Botton is a British writer and television producer who employs a philosophical and accessible approach to examining a variety of subjects from the abstract--love and happiness--to the material--architecture. In August 2008, he founded an unconventional new educational establishment in central London called The School of Life, which offers intelligent instruction on how to lead a fulfilled life. De Botton is a frequent contributor to numerous newspapers, journals and magazines and is a member of the Arts Council of England's literature panel. De Botton owns and helps run his own production company, Seneca Productions, which regularly broadcasts television documentaries based on his work. His most recent book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, is an examination of the modern workplace and the role work has played in our lives throughout history.

Reza Aslan - How to Win a Cosmic War

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:50:05 -0700

Reza Aslan discusses his book, How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror. This program was recorded in collaboration with Berkeley Arts and Letters, on May 12, 2009.

In his new book, the acclaimed writer of No god but God and Middle East analyst for CBS News Reza Aslan lays out, for the first time, a revolutionary assessment of the social movement behind al-Qaeda and like-minded militants throughout the Muslim world.

He argues the the goals and aspirations of Jihadists are so impossible to achieve in this life that they have been forced to transform their earthly struggle for power and influence into a metaphysical conflict between Good and Evil -- what he calls a Cosmic War.

Surveying the global scene, Aslan explores why religion is once again becoming the supreme marker of identity in nearly all parts of the globe.

In doing so, he launches a revolution in the way we understand -- and confront -- radical Islam. How do you win a cosmic war? Refuse to fight one. - Berkeley Arts and Letters

Reza Aslan is a writer and scholar of religions. Born in Iran, Aslan is currently a research associate at the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy. He was a visiting assistant professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Iowa and the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. A frequent commentator on television, radio, and in print, Aslan is a graduate of Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of Iowa. He is the author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam and How to Win a Cosmic War: Why We're Losing the War on Terror.

Condoleezza Rice - Perspectives on Peace and War

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:23:38 -0700

In her first return appearance in Washington since leaving the State Department, Condoleezza Rice reflects on her experiences in the Middle East, and her commitment to the education of children as a force against misunderstanding, terror, and war. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Historic Sixth and I Synagogue, in Washington, D.C., on May 3, 2009.

As National Security Advisor to a war-time president and then as Secretary of State for the United States, Dr. Rice has pursued peace while defending war. To honor the memory of the great warrior and peacemaker Yitzhak Rabin, former Secretary Rice joins Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic, in a far-ranging discussion on how to think morally and responsibly about the ideal of peace and the reality of war and on how to teach these perspectives in our classrooms. - Sixth and I Historic Synagogue

Dr. Condoleezza Rice became Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Prior to this, she was the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, since January, 2001. In June 1999, she completed a six-year tenure as Stanford University's Provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer.

Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974, her master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975, and her PhD from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. Rice is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in 1995, the National Defense University in 2002, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the University of Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004. She resides in Washington, D.C.

Leon Wieseltier is a American writer, critic, and magazine editor. Since 1983 he has been the literary editor of The New Republic.

Edward MacMahon - Defending the 9/11 Terrorists

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:03:24 -0700

Edward MacMahon, defense attorney for convicted 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, discusses the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals at the University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs. This program was recorded in Charlottesville, VA, on January 30, 2009.

What is involved in defending some of the most despised men in the world? Edward B. MacMahon is a veteran trial lawyer based in Washington, DC who served as counsel to Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in an American court with having a role in the 9/11 attacks.

He presently is counsel to Walid Muhammad Salih Bin'Attash in a trial before a military commission at Guantanamo. Bin'Attash is charged with bombing the U.S.S. Cole and with the 9/11 attacks. - Miller Center for Public Affairs

Edward MacMahon has been practicing criminal law since 1986, and has represented numerous clients charged with offenses related to national security as well as clients facing the death penalty. For example, in the 1980s, Mr. MacMahon represented one of the Army officers tried by Court Martial in the Iran-Contra case. More recently, he was lead counsel in the case of United States v. al-Timimi, who was charged with soliciting others to levy war against the United States and inducing others to use firearms in violation of federal law. Although that case is currently on appeal, it was recently sent back to the district court for further proceedings regarding claims that Dr. al-Timimi was subject to the warrantless wiretapping. Mr. MacMahon also represented Zacarias Moussaoui, who was charged with crimes related to the attacks of September 11, 2001. Although the government sought the death penalty in that case, a jury ultimately elected to spare his life. That case remains, until any cases are tried in Guantanamo, the only trial involving the September 11th attacks. According to the government, the Moussaoui case involved the largest quantity of classified evidence ever produced in a criminal case requiring dozens of hearings to address the use and admissibility of that evidence.

Nancy Pelosi - In Conversation with Gloria Duffy

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:07:09 -0700

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in conversation with Gloria Duffy. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on April 15, 2009.

Don't miss a rare opportunity to come face to face with the speaker of the House of Representatives as Pelosi addresses some of the most important challenges facing the nation and the world, including the economy, health care and the troubles in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

Hear the view from inside Washington in this frank and timely discussion. Pelosi, the highest-ranking woman in American politics, will also discuss her new book, Know Your Power, A Message to America's Daughters, in which she shares the life lessons she has gleaned from the pivotal moments on her unforgettable journey to success. - Commonwealth Club of California

Since 1987, Nancy Pelosi has represented California's Eighth District in the House of Representatives. The Eighth District includes most of the City of San Francisco, including Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, and many of the diverse neighborhoods that make San Francisco a vibrant and prosperous community. Overwhelmingly elected by her colleagues in the fall of 2002 as Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi is the first woman in American history to lead a major party in the U.S. Congress. Before being elected leader, she served as House Democratic Whip for one year and was responsible for the party's legislative strategy in the House. On January 4, 2007, Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Gloria Duffy is President and CEO of The Commonwealth Club of California. Gloria Duffy previously served as US Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Clinton Administration. Her mission was to convince the countries of the former Soviet Union to give up their weapons of mass destruction, and to prevent the spread of their nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and material. In years prior, she was the first Executive Director of Ploughshares Fund, a public charitable grant making foundation in San Francisco; Assistant Director of the Arms Control Association, a public interest group in Washington, DC; editor of Arms Control Today, and a resident consultant at the RAND Corporation. A San Francisco native, Dr. Duffy holds M.A., M. Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Columbia University in New York, and an A.B. magna cum laude from Occidental College in Los Angeles. Gloria has also worked with the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, and been a member of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation since 1980.

William Lobdell on "Losing My Religion"

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:08:53 -0700

Author William Lobdell talks about his book, "Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America - and Found Unexpected Peace." This program was recorded in collaboration with Kepler's Books, in Menlo Park, CA, on March 25, 2009.

William Lobdell's journey of faith -- and doubt -- may be the most compelling spiritual memoir of our time. Lobdell became a born-again Christian in his late 20s when personal problems drove him to his knees in prayer.

As a newly minted evangelical, Lobdell -- a veteran journalist -- noticed that religion wasn't covered well in the mainstream media, and he prayed for the Lord to put him on the religion beat at a major newspaper. In 1998, his prayers were answered when the Los Angeles Times asked him to write about faith.

Yet what happened over the next eight years was a roller-coaster of inspiration, confusion, doubt, and soul-searching as his reporting and experiences slowly chipped away at his faith. He explored every doubt, every question -- until, finally, his faith collapsed. - Kepler's Books

William Lobdell has been a journalist for 25 years, winning scores of state and national awards. In 1998, he was assigned to the religion beat for the Los Angeles Times. During his eight years covering faith, he was a finalist for national religion writer of the year in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He left the religion beat when he lost his faith, in 2007.

NewsHour with Legendary Journalist Jim Lehrer

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:39:34 -0700

Jim Lehrer discusses the craft of journalism in this address to the Commonwealth Club of California. This program was recorded in Lafayette, CA, on April 5, 2009.

Anchor of one of the most respected news programs in America, Jim Lehrer has dedicated his life to reporting informative and unbiased news coverage of the nation's most pressing issues. Though his journalistic accomplishments are numerous, Lehrer is most proud of his success as a novelist.

Lehrer talks writing, reporting and telling America's story. - Commonwealth Club of California

Jim Lehrer is an American journalist and the news anchor for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. Lehrer is an author of non-fiction and fiction, drawing from his experiences and interests in history and politics. He is most recently the author of Oh, Johnny: A Novel.

Ask A Scientist: Sex, War, and Human Evolution

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:56:42 -0700

Why is it that humans, nearly unique in this regard, have a natural inclination to band together and kill off members of our own species? The fact that chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary relatives, are the only other animals known to exhibit such organized warlike behavior is a big clue.

Malcolm Potts and Thomas Hayden, authors of the new book Sex and War, assert that the answers lie in our biological history -- that aggression against our own species is rooted in deep evolutionary impulses and predispositions. In other words, intra-species battling among our protohuman ancestors gave a reproductive advantage to the most violent males -- and here we are, their pugnacious descendants, still at it.

Watch to learn how sex and war are inextricably linked, and perhaps, what we modern-day humans can do about it. -- Ask a Scientist

Tom joined E-IPER in December 2008. A science journalist and magazine writer, Tom teaches IPER 200, a practical course focused on using the tools of journalism to raise the profile and influence of science in the public sphere. With the students in IPER 200, Tom produces a consumer-oriented advice column that provides science-based answers to reader's questions about sustainable living. Tom also teaches environmental reporting (Comm. 277) in Stanford's graduate program in journalism. Prior to coming to Stanford, Tom was a staff writer at the weekly news magazines Newsweek and US News & World Report, and a freelance science journalist for publications including National Geographic, Wired, Nature, USA Today and many others. He has taught science journalism at Johns Hopkins University, and is a founding faculty member in the summer Science Communications program at the Banff Centre, in Canada. He is coauthor of two nonfiction books and continues to write articles and reviews for diverse publications. He has a BSA from the University of Saskatchewan and an MS from the University of Southern California, where he studied biological oceanography.

Prof. David Malcolm Potts is a human reproductive scientist. Since 1993, he has been the first holder of the Fred H. Bixby-endowed chair in Population and Family Planning in the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley. Potts completed a medical degree and a PhD in embryology (on the electron microscopy of mammalian implantation) at the University of Cambridge. While at Cambridge, he started the first clinic offering contraception to young people. He advised David Steel on the UK's 1967 Abortion Act. He was the first male doctor at the Marie Stopes Clinic in London. He became the first Medical Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1968. In 1972, he was the first physician to promote the technique of uterine manual vacuum aspiration. He then moved to the United States and became CEO of Family Health International (FHI) from 1978-1990. During this period, FHI became the largest global AIDS prevention programme outside of the World Health Organisation. He has published ten books and over 200 scientific papers. His books include Abortion (co-written with Peter Diggory and John Peel, 1977), Textbook of Contraceptive Practice (1st edition co-written with John Peel, 1969; 2nd edition co-written with Peter Diggory, 1983; long the key textbook in the field), Queen Victoria's Gene (written with his brother Prof. William Potts), Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality (written with Dr Roger Short, 1999) and Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World (co-written with Thomas Hayden, 2008). He has worked as a consultant to the World Bank and the British, American, Canadian and Egyptian governments.

Military Power: Does it Work?

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:48:58 -0700

Alex de Wall, Thomas Ricks, and Gen. Barry McCaffrey discuss the effectiveness of military intervention. This program was recorded in collaboration with the City University of New York, on March 10, 2009.

Does military intervention work? What is the role of non-military and multi-national groups in regime change and peace-keeping efforts?

Three distinguished participants discuss their perspectives on peace keeping and regime change. Featuring Alex de Waal, program director of the Social Science Research Council, General Barry McCaffrey, four-star general of the United States Army (retired), and Thomas Ricks, The Washington Post's Special Military Correspondent. Thomas Weiss, Presidential Professor of Political Science at The Graduate Center moderates.

Alex de Waal is a writer and activist on African issues, a fellow of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University, the Director of the Social Science Research Council program on AIDS and social transformation and the director of Justice Africa in London. His books include Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan, AIDS and Power: Why there is no Political Crisis - Yet, and, most recently, Darfur: A New History of a Long War.

Barry McCaffrey served in the United States Military for 32 years and retired as a four star general. At the time of his retirement, he was the most decorated serving general in the military. During his thirteen years overseas, McCaffrey served four combat tours of duty. From 1992 to 1994, he served as Lt. General on the Joint Chiefs of Staff Pentagon staff and was also the Special Assistant to General Colin Powell. He also served as Major General on the Army Pentagon staff and commanded 26,000 soldiers during Desert Storm. He was awarded twice with both the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for valor. Following his distinguished military career, General McCaffrey was appointed, by a unanimous Senate vote, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Clinton administration.

Thomas E. Ricks is a Washington Post Pentagon and military correspondent and Pulitzer Prize-winner. Ricks lectures widely to the military and is a member of Harvard University's Senior Advisory Council on the Project on U.S. Civil-Military Relations. Ricks is the author of the bestselling books Making the Corps, A Soldier's Duty, and Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq.

Thomas G. Weiss is Presidential Professor of Political Science at The CUNY Graduate Center and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, where he is co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project.

David Plotz - Good Book: Blogging the Bible

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:29:45 -0700

Slate Editor David Plotz discusses his book, Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible. This program was recorded in collaboration with Politics and Prose Bookstore, in Washington, D.C., on March 7, 2009.

Like many Jews and Christians, David Plotz, editor of Slate Magazine, long assumed he knew what was in the Bible. He read parts of it as a child in Hebrew school, then at-tended a Christian high school where he studied the Old and New Testaments.

Many of the highlights stuck with him--Adam and Eve, Cain versus Abel, Jacob versus Esau, Jonah versus whale, forty days and nights, ten plagues and commandments, twelve tribes and apostles, Red Sea walked under, Galilee walked on, bush into fire, rock into water, water into wine. And, of course, he absorbed from all around him other bits of the Bible--from stories he heard in churches and synagogues, in movies and on television, from his parents and teachers.

But it wasn't until he picked up a Bible at a cousin's bat mitzvah--and became engrossed and horrified by a lesser-known story in Genesis--that he couldn't put it down. - Politics and Prose Bookstore

David Plotz is Slate's editor. He is the author of Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible. In 1992, Plotz graduated from Harvard. Prior to his work at Slate, he worked as a paralegal for the Department of Justice, which he disliked, switching to journalism. Thereafter, he served as a writer and editor for the Washington City Paper. He joined Slate when it launched in 1996.

Remix: Steven Johnson, Lawrence Lessig and Shepard Fairey

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:41:08 -0700

Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig and pop artist Shepard Fairey discuss copyright law in a conversation with author Steven Johnson. This program was recorded in collaboration with the New York Public Library, in New York, NY, on February 26, 2009.

What is the future for art and ideas in an age when practically anything can be copied, pasted, downloaded, sampled, and re-imagined?

LIVE from the NYPL and WIRED Magazine kick off the Spring 2009 season with a spirited discussion of the emerging remix culture.

Our guides through this new world--who will take us from Jefferson's Bible to Andre the Giant to Wikipedia--will be Lawrence Lessig, author of Remix, founder of Creative Commons, and one of the leading legal scholars on intellectual property issues in the Internet age; acclaimed street artist Shepard Fairey, whose iconic Obama "HOPE" poster was recently acquired by the National Portrait Gallery; and cultural historian Steven Johnson, whose new book, The Invention of Air, argues that remix culture has deep roots in the Enlightenment and among the American founding fathers.

Shepard Fairey shot to national fame as the graphic artist behind a 2008 iconic poster of Barack Obama, a portrait labeled simply "HOPE" and in a style that could be described as Andy Warhol meets Socialist Realism. With permission from the staff of Obama's presidential campaign, Fairey began distributing the "HOPE" image in January of 2008. A year later, with Obama in the White House, Fairey's poster was officially displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Lawrence Lessig is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of the school's Center for Internet and Society. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, contracts, and the law of cyberspace. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, he was Berkman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a professor at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. For much of his career, he has focused on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright. Recognized for arguing against interpretations of copyright that could stifle innovation and discourse online, he is CEO of the Creative Commons project, and he has been a columnist for Wired, Red Herring, and The Industry Standard.

Steven Johnson is the author of the US bestsellers Mind Wide Open and Emergence. His most recent book is The Invention of Air. Johnson's writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He also writes for Discover magazine and Wired.com, and was co-founder of the award-winning websites FEED and Plastic.com. He teaches at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program and also hosts a weblog at www.stevenberlinjohnson.com.

Azadeh Moaveni - Honeymoon in Terhan

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:17:06 -0800

Author and journalist Azadeh Moaveni talks about her book, Honeymoon in Terhan: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, in San Jose, CA, on February 25, 2009.

As one of the few American correspondents allowed to work continuously in Iran since 1999, Azadeh Moaveni has reported widely on women's rights, Islamic reform and youth culture. She discusses her personal experiences living and working in Iran, including how, after facing the threat of arrest, she fled the country to protect her family's safety.

Azadeh Moaveni grew up in California, her parents having left Iran in 1976, three years before the Islamic revolution. The unresolved tension she felt between her cultural identity as an Iranian and an American led her to go to Iran as a journalist. For two years she wrote about Iran for Time, finding a complex and varied reality. Her stay was bracketed by the pro-democracy student demonstrations of 1999 and President Bush's "axis of evil" speech in 2001, after which the government clamped down hard on dissent and on journalists. She was compelled to leave in fear for her safety. Her book Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran is the account of Moaveni's time in Iran, and of her quest to better understand her cultural identity.

Jeff Jarvis - What Would Google Do?

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:51:11 -0800

Named one of 100 worldwide media leaders, Jeff Jarvis discusses his book, What Would Google Do? This program was recorded at Books Inc. in Mountain View, CA, on February 18, 2009.

Jeff Jarvis is an American journalist. He is the former television critic for TV Guide and People magazine, creator of Entertainment Weekly, Sunday editor and associate publisher of the New York Daily News, and a columnist on the San Francisco Examiner. Until recently he was president and creative director of Advance Internet, the online arm of Advance Publications, where he developed the children's educational site "Yuckiest Site on the Internet" with Susan Mernit. Jarvis currently consults for Advance Internet. He has also consulted for the New York Times Company at About.com, where he worked on content development and strategy. In 2006 he became an associate professor at City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism, directing its new media program. He has a fortnightly column in the MediaGuardian supplement of the British newspaper The Guardian.

Power and Sex: America's War on Sexual Rights - A CUNY Panel Discussion

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:49:34 -0800

This program was recorded in collaboration with the City University of New York, on November 17, 2008.

Has the conservative agenda come to dominate the national and international conversation on sexual rights?

Obama's victory and the vote against abortion bans in Colorado and South Dakota brought some sexual rights back from the edge of a political precipice, but others remain in the balance.

Join scholars, journalists, and policy makers to talk about how we can help the new administration change policies and reframe national and international thinking on sexual rights.

Participants include Dagmar Herzog, author of Sex in Crisis: The New Sexual Revolution and the Future of American Politics and Professor of History, Lynn Paltrow, Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, Nation columnist Katha Pollitt, and Faye Wattleton, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Women.

Discussant: Rosalind Petchesky, author of Sexuality, Health and Human Rights and Distinguished Professor of Political Science. Moderated by Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the Graduate Center, CUNY - City University of New York

Neil deGrasse Tyson - The Pluto Files

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:34:23 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/02/04/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson_Pluto_Files

Astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson talks about his latest book, "The Pluto Files," in a conversation with Dr. Laura Danly. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library, in Los Angeles, CA, on February 4, 2009.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the bestselling author and director of the world-famous Hayden Planetarium, chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto, man's best celestial friend.

Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia. Tyson's professional research interests are broad, but include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way. Tyson obtains his data from the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as from telescopes in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and in the Andes Mountains of Chile. In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a 12-member commission that studied the Future of the US Aerospace Industry. The final report was published in 2002 and contained recommendations (for Congress and for the major agencies of the government) that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security. In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a 9-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Committee, which will help guide NASA through its perennial need to fit its ambitious vision into its restricted budget. In addition to dozens of professional publications, Dr. Tyson has written, and continues to write for the public.

Dr. Laura Danly is Curator at the Griffith Observatory, where she develops all educational, theatrical, gallery, and telescope programs. She holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy, and is a spectroscopist specializing in ultraviolet observations from space satellites.

Gaza Debate: The Case for Middle East Peace

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:34:23 -0800

"Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace" panel discussion at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This program was recorded on January 29, 2009.

The uncertainty and complexity surrounding the crisis in Gaza have captured the attention of the world. What needs to be done to prevent the Middle East peace process from slipping away yet again? - World Economic Forum

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has served as the Prime Minister of Turkey since March 14, 2003. He is the chairman of the Justice and Development Party.

David Ignatius - David Ignatius is a columnist for The Washington Post. His twice-weekly column on global politics, economics, and international affairs began appearing on the op-ed page of the Post in January 1999.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - Ban Ki-moon is a South Korean diplomat and the current Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Amre Moussa - Amr Moussa has been the current Secretary-General of the League of Arab States since his election to the position in May 2001. He is a former Egyptian Foreign Minister and diplomat.

Shimon Peres - Shimon Peres is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and once as Acting Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years.

Steven Johnson - The Invention of Air

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:59:12 -0800

Steven Johnson discusses his book, The Invention of Air at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA, on January 17, 2009.

Johnson recounts the story of Joseph Priestley -- scientist and theologian, protege of Benjamin Franklin -- an 18th-century radical thinker who played pivotal roles in the invention of ecosystem science, the founding of the Unitarian Church, and the intellectual development of the U.S. - Book Passage

Steven Johnson is the author of the US bestsellers Mind Wide Open and Emergence. His most recent book is The Invention of Air.

Johnson's writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. He also writes for Discover magazine and Wired.com, and was co-founder of the award-winning websites FEED and Plastic.com.

He teaches at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program and also hosts a weblog at www.stevenberlinjohnson.com.

Robert Reich - 2009 Economic Forecast

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:11:14 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/01/14/Robert_Reich_2009_Economic_Forecast

Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, delivers the Commonwealth Club of California's 2009 Walter E. Hoadley Annual Economic Forecast. This program was recorded in San Francisco, CA, on January 14, 2009.

As the economy nose-dives into a crisis of unknown depths, hear renowned economist and former Secretary of Labor Reich lay out his thoughts on what lurks around the financial corner in 2009.

Drawing on his years of experience both in and out of the political sphere, and sifting through the mountain of financial data, fiscal indicators, and government spin, Reich - who has been rumored as a contender for a position in the Obama administration - will cut through the hysteria and hyperbole to reveal where we're headed in '09 - The Commonwealth Club of California

Robert Reich is professor of public policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He served in three national administrations; his articles appear frequently in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he is a commentator for American Public Media's Marketplace, heard on NPR.

Dan Ariely - We're All Predictably Irrational

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:29:20 -0800

Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University, presents examples of cognitive illusions that help illustrate why humans make predictably irrational decisions.

EG is the celebration of the American entertainment industry. Since 1984, Richard Saul Wurman has created extraordinary gatherings about learning and understanding. EG is a rich extension of these ideas - a conference that explores the attitude of understanding in music, film, television, radio, technology, advertising, gaming, interactivity and the web - The Entertainment Gathering

Dan Ariely is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He is considered to be one of the leading behavioral economists. Currently, Ariely is serving as a Visiting Professor at the Duke University, Fuqua School of Business where he is teaching a course based upon his findings in Predictably Irrational.

Ariely was an undergraduate at Tel Aviv University and received a Ph.D. and M.A. in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in business from Duke University. His research focuses on discovering and measuring how people make decisions. He models the human decision making process and in particular the irrational decisions that we all make every day.

Ariely is the author of the book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, which was published on February 21, 2008 by HarperCollins.