FORA.tv - Daily Audio FORAcast

Mike Huckabee Criticizes Republican Orthodoxy

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:55:59 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/11/02/Mike_Huckabee_in_Conversation

Mike Huckabee argues that "absolute purity" does not exist in politics as it does in theology. While Huckabee is wary of tying the Republican party to the "mushy middle," he also warns against holding politicians to uncompromising ideological standards. "If your position politically is 'all or nothing, now or never,' you're going to get nothing, and you're going to get it forever."

-----

The former Governor of Arkansas, Fox News personality, and probable 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee speaks at the Hudson Union Society in a program recorded on November 2, 2009.

Mike Huckabee is a Republican politician, musician, political commentator and host for the Fox News Channel and ABC Radio who served as Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. Huckabee finished second in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries.

Huckabee is the author of several books, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and a public speaker.

John Freeman - Constantly Checking Your Inbox? Email Addiction Explained

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:20:12 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/27/The_Tyranny_of_E-mail_John_Freeman

John Freeman describes the psychology behind compulsive email checking. He explains that the neurological effects of constantly checking your inbox are similar to those of playing a slot machine. "Rather than reward an action every time it is performed, you reward it sometimes, but not in a predictable way," he says.

-----

John Freeman talks about The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four Thousand Year Journey to Your Inbox.

The former president of the National Book Critics Circle and current American Editor of Granta, gives us a history of people's need for correspondence. He examines the astonishing growth of e-mail -- how it is changing lives, and not always for the better. - Book Passage

John Freeman is Acting Editor of Granta Magazine. As American editor of Granta, he has gone around the country visiting M.F.A. programs and English departments telling aspiring writers about his magazine, giving out discounted subscriptions and encouraging everyone to submit their work.

Dacher Keltner - The Evolution of Emotions

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:28:08 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/11/08/Does_Darwin_Illuminate_Emotion_and_Spirituality

Born to Be Good author Dacher Keltner introduces the Darwinian principle of antithesis, which attempts to explain body language. He relates the principle to strength, modesty, anger, love, spirituality, and stress.

-----

Does Darwin Illuminate Emotion and Spirituality?: A Discussion with Dacher Keltner and Paul Ekman. Recorded in collaboration with Wonderfest, in Berkeley, CA, on November 8, 2009.

Wonderfest, the Bay Area Festival of Science, is held each year in the beginning of November. Enjoy fascinating discussions between world-class scientists on cutting edge topics, as well as other fun exhibitions. Visit Wonderfest.org and join.

Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology, is a social psychologist who focuses on the prosocial emotions, such as love, sympathy and gratitude, and processes such as teasing and flirtation that enhance bonds.

He has conducted empirical studies in three areas of inquiry. A first looks at the determinant and effects of power, hierarchy and social class. A second in concerned with the morality of everyday life, and how we negotiate moral truths in teasing, gossip, and other reputational matters. A third and primary focus in on the biological and evolutionary basis of the benevolent affects, including compassion, awe, love, gratitude, and laughter and modesty.

Professor Keltner is Co-Director of The Greater Good Science Center.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus: Global Warming Alarmists Are Like Communists

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:56:29 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/11/06/Uncommon_Knowledge_Vaclav_Klaus

President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus compares communist ideologues to global warming alarmists. "They are against individual freedom," states Klaus. "They are both very similar in telling us what to do, how to live, how to behave, what to eat."

-----

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1941 during WW II, Vaclav Klaus grew up during the Cold War. After earning a doctorate in economics, he pursued a career in academia and at the Czechoslovak State Bank. Immediately after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Klaus entered politics. A founder of the Civic Democratic Party, he served from 1992 to 1997 as prime minister of the Czech Republic. In 2003 he was elected president, a position to which he was reelected in 2008.

In retelling his experience of living through the Velvet Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the lifting of the Iron Curtain, Vaclav Klaus offers his views on what students today need to understand about life under communism. He also defends his opposition to the idea of a European superstate -- "I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic" -- and compares the ideology of environmentalism and global warming alarmism with the ideology of communism.

Finally, he ponders the question of what lessons from history his grandchildren are learning. - Hoover Institution

Vaclav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic (since 2003, reelected 2008) and a former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (1992–1997).

He studied at the Prague School of Economics (majoring in the Economics of Foreign Trade and graduating in 1963), and economics became his lifelong specialist field.

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.

Michael Wesley - Democracy and the Wired World

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:50:53 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/04/Is_Democracy_Not_For_Everyone

In this panel debate, Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Wesley explores how advancements in communication technologies have facilitated the spread of global democracy. "Fatalism is dead," he says. "Democracy is here as a consciousness."

-----

Winston Churchill famously said that democracy was the worst form of government - except for all the others that have been tried. In western countries like Australia the universal good of democracy is simply assumed. But are we assuming too much?

"Democracy Is Not For Everyone" was the challenging proposition debated at the most recent IQ Squared event, held as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Michael Wesley is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Previously he was Professor of International Relations and Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Hong Kong and Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China.

Between 2007 and 2009, Dr. Wesley was the Editor of the Australian Journal of International Affairs and a Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS). He has served on the Australian Research Council's College of Experts and the Queensland Art Gallery's Board of Trustees. In April 2008, he was Co-Chair (with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith) of one of the ten issue streams at the Australian government's 2020 Summit and gave the keynote speech at the Summit.

His most recent books are Energy Security in Asia(Routledge, 2007); The Howard Paradox: Australian Diplomacy in Asia 1996-2006 (ABC Books, 2007); and (with Allan Gyngell) Making Australian Foreign Policy, 2nd edition, (Cambridge University Press, 2007).

David Rivkin - Are Healthcare Mandates Unconstitutional?

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:26:21 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/26/Are_Healthcare_Purchase_Mandates_Constitutional

Attorney David Rivkin argues that a congressional mandate to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. "If you can mandate the purchase of health insurance, you can mandate the purchase of health club memberships."

-----

The Constitutionality of Mandates to Purchase Health Insurance: A debate of opposing viewpoints as to whether an individual mandate to purchase insurance is constitutional with Louis Michael Seidman, Georgetown University Law Center, and David B. Rivkin, Jr., Baker Hostetler. - Georgetown University

David B. Rivkin, Jr., is a member of the firm Baker Hostetler, litigation, international and environmental groups. He has in-depth experience with various constitutional issues that are frequently implicated by federal regulatory statutes, including commerce clause-, appointments clause- and due process-related issues, as well as First and Tenth amendment-related matters.

Mr. Rivkin also has practiced in the area of public international law and has extensive experience in international arbitration and policy advocacy on a wide range of international and domestic issues, including treaty implementation, multilateral and unilateral sanctions, corporate law, environmental and energy matters (with an emphasis on policy, regulatory and enforcement issues).

Michael Cannon - The Public Option's Unfair Advantage? Gov't Bailouts

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:59:10 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/13/How_Government_Competes_in_Health_Insurance

Michael Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, denounces a public option. He says a government backed health plan will gain an unfair advantage over the private market simply by being "a creature of Congress."

-----

Supporters claim a new "government option" would compete on a level playing field with private health insurance. But a new lawsuit belies that claim.

Since 1993, the Social Security Administration has effectively coerced seniors into enrolling in Medicare by decreeing that those who opt out of Medicare for private insurance must forfeit all Social Security benefits, past and future. Last month, a federal court acknowledged that federal law requires no such thing and that SSA conjured that requirement out of thin air "without public notice and comment."

Kent Masterson Brown and Michael F. Cannon explain the relevance of Hall v. Sebelius to today's health reform debate. - Cato Institute

Michael F. Cannon is the Cato Institute's director of health policy studies. Previously, he served as a domestic policy analyst at the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee under Senator Larry E. Craig (R-ID), where he advised the Senate leadership on health, education, labor, welfare, and Second Amendment policy.

In addition, Cannon has worked as a health care policy analyst for Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation in Washington, D.C. Cannon has appeared on CNN, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News Channel, and NPR. His articles have been featured in USA Today, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Most recently, Cannon coauthored the book Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It.

Saree Makdisi: Is Israel Trying to Hide Palestinians?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:25:23 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/22/Excavating_Memory_in_Jerusalem

Saree Makdisi, author of Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, argues that one ulterior motive for Israel's separation barriers is to "render Palestinians invisible to Jewish colonists." Makdisi shows photos demonstrating how Israel attempts to disguise the walls.

-----

In 2004, construction began in Jerusalem on the local branch of the Los Angeles-based Museum of Tolerance, designed by the leading American architect, Frank Gehry. The museum is now being built over the remains of what had been the largest and most important Muslim cemetery in Palestine, which had been in continual use from the time of the Crusades up until 1948.

The clash between the two competing claims to the same site offers a paradigmatic case to explore and rethink the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, since all of the elements of the larger conflict are also in play in the struggle over this specific site. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Professor Saree Makdisi is a professor of English Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of several books on British Romanticism, his area of expertise. He also writes on contemporary Arab politics and culture.

Makdisi is the nephew of the late Edward Said and the grandson of Anis Makdisi, a distinguished professor of Arabic at the American University of Beirut.

Widely published in his academic area, Makdisi has also written many commentaries on Palestine for publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, London Review of Books and the San Francisco Chronicle.

In 2008, Makdisi published his book Palestine Inside Out: Everyday Occupation. The book combines the personal experiences of daily life under occupation with an analysis of how the occupation functions as a whole.

Freakonomics: How Often Do MDs Really Wash Their Hands?

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:54:21 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/11/04/SuperFreakonomics_with_Steven_Levitt_and_Stephen_Dubner

SuperFreakonomics authors Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt reveal disturbing statistics on how often hospital doctors actually wash their hands. Levitt discusses how one hospital successfully addressed the issue by growing petri dish cultures from some particularly grimy hands.

-----

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."

Norm Stamper - Law Enforcement 'Addicted' to Drug Revenue

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:18:03 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/04/Should_All_Drug_Use_Be_Made_Legal

Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department, argues that law enforcement, and the private industries associated with it, make too much revenue from the prosecution of drug laws to support reform. "I think making profit off the criminal justice system, which deals fundamentally with social justice, is immoral," says Stamper.

-----

Although the media sporadically reports on major narcotic raids, the general consensus about the war on drugs is that small battles will not win this war. Despite all the money spent on drug enforcement worldwide, illicit drugs are still relatively cheap and widely available. Increasingly drugs are being viewed as a social problem rather than strictly a legal one.

So is it time to rethink traditional approaches to the illegal drug industry? Countries like Portugal and Argentina are forging ahead with drug reforms, but will Australia follow suit?

In this panel from the provocative Festival of Dangerous Ideas the argument is put forward that decriminalization and regulation would be the best solution to addressing the problems associated with drugs. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Norm Stamper is the former Chief of the Seattle Police Department. He is an advisory board member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and is the author of Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing.

Simon Critchley - From Poison to Cow Dung: A History of Philosophers' Deaths

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:24:30 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/09/Simon_Critchley_To_Philosophize_is_to_Learn_How_to_Die

From suicide by a love potion to suffocating in cow dung, Simon Critchley gives a brief history of the deaths of famous philosophers -- histories he describes as "weirdness, madness, suicide, murder, bad luck, pathos and some very dark humor."

-----

English philosopher Simon Critchley, chair and professor of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research, discusses his 2009 New York Times bestseller, The Book of Dead Philosophers.

Starting with Cicero's axiom, "To philosophize is to learn how to die," Professor Critchley leads us to his conclusion that to die is to learn how to live. The Daily Telegraph called the book "rigorous, profound, and frequently hilarious" and described Critchley as "an engaging and deadpan guide to the metaphysical necropolis" as well as "bracingly serious and properly comic." - The New School

Simon Critchley was born in Hertfordshire in 1960, and currently lives and works in New York as Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. He failed dramatically at school before failing in a large number of punk bands in the late 70s and failing as a poet some time later.

This was followed by failure as a radical political activist. By complete accident, he ended up at university when he was 22 and decided to stay. He found a vocation in teaching philosophy, although his passions still lie in music, poetry and politics. The Book of Dead Philosophers is his eighth book.

Barbara Ehrenreich - Did Positive Thinking Wreck the Economy?

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:24:54 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/24/Bright-Sided_Barbara_Ehrenreich

Journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich criticizes the "delusional" positivity that she believes has permeated American culture. She suggests that so-called "negative" realists are persecuted for their attitudes, particularly in business.

-----

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 - It's Time for Sensible Marijuana Laws

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:30:26 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/28/Rick_Steves_Travel_As_a_Political_Act

Travel writer Rick Steves compares European drug policies to those of the United States, and calls for comprehensive reform of laws restricting use of soft drugs like marijuana. "There's not a reservoir of people just wishing they could ruin their lives with drugs if only it was legal," says Steves.

-----

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.

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.

Will Israel's Threat to 'Strike' Iran Become Reality?

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:44:38 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/20/Uncommon_Knowledge_Robert_Baer_and_Victor_Davis_Hanson

Former CIA Operative Robert Baer and syndicated columnist Victor Davis Hanson analyze Israel's threat to "strike" Iran over that country's alleged nuclear program. Baer believes the threat will be realized, while Hanson argues that the US government has very little leverage within Israeli politics and would have limited ability to stop an attack from happening.

-----

Does Iran possess the ability to produce nuclear weapons? Both Bob Baer and Victor Hanson agree that it does. On the questions that flow from this assertion, agreement is more difficult to find. What does Iran hope to accomplish by developing the bomb? Can the United States live with a nuclear Iran? Can Israel? Israeli Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh in an October interview asserted "If no crippling sanctions are in place by Christmas, Israel will strike...if we are left alone, we will act alone." Does Israel possess the ability to destroy the Iranian nuclear program?

With each month bringing another deception and diversion from Iran, what can the United States do to prevent a conflagration in the Middle East? - Hoover Institution

Robert Baer was a CIA case officer in the Directorate of Operations from 1976 to 1997, where he served in Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq and Lebanon. His latest book is The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower.

Victor Davis Hanson is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor emeritus at California University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He was a full-time farmer before joining CSU Fresno, in 1984 to initiate a classics program.

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.

Lawrence Lessig - Corrupt Congress a Farm League for K Street Lobbyists

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:09:55 -0800

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/08/Lawrence_Lessig_on_Institutional_Corruption

Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig makes a sweeping indictment of the relationship between special interest groups, their lobbyists, and Capitol Hill politicians. "Members, staffers and bureaucrats increasingly have a common business model in their head as they serve in Washington," says Lessig. "The business model is focused on their life after government - life as lobbyists."

-----

Larry Lessig introduces the Safra lecture series with a discussion on institutional corruption.

He explores the prevalence of this form of corruption in fields ranging from politics to medicine to journalism, and describes his plan to study and contain this problem. - Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University

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.

Gayle Salamon - Parents Sue School for Allowing Son to Be Openly Gay

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:59:48 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/05/Whats_Sex_Got_to_Do_with_Family

Gayle Salamon, assistant professor of English at Princeton University, describes a law suit filed by the parents of Lawrence King, an openly-gay 15-year-old who was shot dead by fellow classmate Brandon McInerney. The suit charges E.O. Green Junior High School for failing to protect King from his own gender transgressive behavior.

-----

Sex is both at the core and the edge of the family life.

In an era when the conceptual and political transformation of the family is most palpable on a global scale, often generating impassioned debates among those wedded or even indifferent to "the family values," this panel seeks to explore family formations through their deepest open secrets: sex, sexuality and sexual practices.

Gayle Salamon is Assistant Professor of English at Princeton University. She received a Ph.D. in rhetoric from the University of California-Berkeley, where she wrote her dissertation on Assuming a Body: Transgenderism and Rhetorics of Materiality. She has held a research fellowship at Brown University's Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, and has taught a broad spectrum of courses at UC-Berkeley on the topics of embodiment and gender.

Her new research project at Princeton will explore the role that proprioception and chronic pain can play in shaping a bodily sense of self. Her teaching this year will include courses on themes of "passing" in modern literature, and transgender theory. Salamon holds the new LGBT Studies Fellowship, funded by an endowment from the Fund for Reunion, the bisexual, transgendered, gay and lesbian alumni association of Princeton.

Deepak Chopra - LSD as a Spiritual Experience

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:31:48 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/22/Deepak_Chopra_How_to_Create_a_New_Self

Spiritual guru and MD Deepak Chopra remembers his first spiritual experience with LSD at 17, and discusses the cultural uses of drugs and enlightenment. He brings up ritualistic drug use in Native American, Aborigine, and Indian religious tradition.

-----

"You can't change the body without changing the self, and you can't change the self without bringing in the soul," says Deepak Chopra, a renowned pioneer in holistic medicine. Chopra believes the highest choice is to reinvent your body and resurrect your soul.

He discusses aging, the many lifestyle diseases he says are the result of the steady loss of energy inside the body, and how awareness can reverse the process.

From early childhood, each of us has been inventing our body, through beliefs, habits, conditioning, and our mental responses to everyday stress. We've done this unconsciously, and may now feel dissatisfaction on all levels: body, mind and spirit.

Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul offers three keys to creating the self you desire: the soul shift, the subtle action, and the core participation. Chopra's message is that your highest vision of yourself can be turned into physical reality. - Commonwealth Club of California

Deepak Chopra is the author of more than fifty books translated into more than thirty-five languages. Dr. Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management, and a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization. He is founder and president of the Alliance for a New Humanity.

Time magazine heralds Deepak Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as "the poet–prophet of alternative medicine."

Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin on Bing, Yahoo, and More

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:49:25 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/22/A_Conversation_with_Googles_Sergey_Brin

Google co-founder Sergy Brin gives his take on other search engines, including Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo. "Bing has reminded us...that search is a very competitive market," Brin says, adding that it's a "shame" Yahoo plans to abdicate search because they were doing "interesting work."

-----

Google co-founder Sergey Brin makes a surprise appearance at the Web 2.0 summit to talk with John Battelle about the future of the company. They discuss Google's current projects like Android and Chrome, as well as the competition they face from sites like Facebook and Bing. - Web 2.0 Summit

Sergey Brin, a native of Moscow, received a bachelor of science degree with honors in mathematics and computer science from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is currently on leave from the Ph.D. program in computer science at Stanford University, where he received his master's degree. Sergey is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship as well as an honorary MBA from Instituto de Empresa. It was at Stanford where he met Larry Page and worked on the project that became Google. Together they founded Google Inc. in 1998, and Sergey continues to share responsibility for day-to-day operations with Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.

Sergey's research interests include search engines, information extraction from unstructured sources, and data mining of large text collections and scientific data. He has published more than a dozen academic papers, including Extracting Patterns and Relations from the World Wide Web; Dynamic Data Mining: A New Architecture for Data with High Dimensionality, which he published with Larry Page; Scalable Techniques for Mining Casual Structures; Dynamic Itemset Counting and Implication Rules for Market Basket Data; and Beyond Market Baskets: Generalizing Association Rules to Correlations.

John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor, and author. Currently founder and chairman of Federated Media Publishing, he is also a founder and executive producer of conferences in the media, technology, communications, and entertainment industries and "band manager" with BoingBoing.net.

Why Richard Dawkins Doesn't Debate Creationists

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:11:08 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/07/Richard_Dawkins_The_Greatest_Show_on_Earth

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explains that he no longer debates creationists because his presence only validates their status. He compares the situation to a reproductive scientist agreeing to debate an advocate of the "stork theory."

-----

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.

Thomas Murray - Personal Liberty and the Public Option

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:13:09 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/05/Healthcare_Reform_The_Ethics_of_Public_Debate

Thomas H. Murray, president of The Hastings Center, says that while opponents of healthcare reform contend a public option would infringe on individual freedom, the reality is much more complex. Murray argues that a public option would promote liberty, ensuring all Americans are created equally.

-----

Panelists Thomas Murray, Peter Barland, Mary Ann Baily and Trudy Lieberman discuss the moral aspect of the current healthcare debate.

They examine the ethical issues involved in healthcare policy, the economics of health reform, the ethics of the way the debate is being conducted and reported, and physicians' perspectives on these issues. - Center for Ethics at Yeshiva University

Thomas H. Murray is President of The Hastings Center. Dr. Murray was formerly the Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was also the Susan E. Watson Professor of Bioethics. He is a founding editor of the journal Medical Humanities Review, and is on the editorial boards of The Hastings Center Report; Human Gene Therapy; Politics and the Life Sciences; Cloning, Science, and Policy; Medscape General Medicine; Teaching Ethics; Journal of Bioethical Inquiry and the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics. He served as President of the Society for Health and Human Values and of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.

Will Twitter Ever Make Money? CEO Evan Williams Responds

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:36:39 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/21/A_Conversation_with_Twitter_CEO_Evan_Williams

Federated Media's John Battelle asks Twitter co-founder and CEO Evan Williams the question on everyone's mind: What is Twitter's revenue model? Williams dodges the question, but reiterates his confidence that the micro-blogging service will be able to capitalize on the commercial activity already occurring on the site.

-----

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams talks with Federated Media's John Battelle at the Web 2.0 Summit about current trends on the Internet and the future of one of the most popular social web services online. - Web 2.0 Summit

Evan Williams is chairman and chief product officer of Twitter, Inc. Previously, he was co-founder and CEO of Pyra Labs, who created Blogger in 1999. In 2003, Blogger was purchased by Google, where Williams worked as a product and engineering manager until late 2004.

John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor, and author. Currently founder and chairman of Federated Media Publishing, he is also a founder and executive producer of conferences in the media, technology, communications, and entertainment industries and "band manager" with BoingBoing.net.

Capt. Phillips Recalls Pirate Hijacking on the High Seas

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:26:06 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/16/Captain_Richard_Phillips_Lessons_on_Leadership

Richard Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, describes his efforts to thwart Somali pirates from hijacking his container ship and its entire crew.

-----

For five days in April 2009, the world was glued to their TV screens as Capt. Phillips became the center of an extraordinary international drama when he was captured by Somali pirates who hijacked his ship, the first hijacking of a US ship in more than 200 years. A "floating CEO" in charge of the day-to-day operations of a multi-million dollar ship, Captain Richard Phillips has a compelling story and valuable lessons for anyone involved in running a business today. - Harry Walker Agency

Though Captain Phillips describes himself as a "regular guy," the world knows that his actions were anything but ordinary after the pirate attack. His harrowing and heroic efforts to survive an ordeal that riveted the world were only matched in valor by his decisive actions to save his crew and the ship they sailed.

President Obama said, "I share the country's admiration for the bravery of Captain Phillips and his selfless concern for his crew. His courage is a model for all Americans."

The dramatic story of Captain Richard Phillips and his crew aboard the Maersk Alabama will be heading to the big screen courtesy of Columbia Pictures and an in-the-works book will tell of his experience and his remarkable rescue.

Stewart Brand - Too Much Controversy over Genetically Modified Foods?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:03:40 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/09/Stewart_Brand_Rethinking_Green

Genetically engineered foods are "only unnatural if you don't know the biology," says author and futurist Stewart Brand. "There is no good reason for genetically engineered food crops to be controversial."

-----

Environmentalist pioneer Stewart Brand talks about his book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, in a discussion at the Long Now Foundation. This program was recorded in San Francisco, CA, on October 9, 2009.

Stewart Brand is a co-founder and managing director of Global Business Network, founded and runs the GBN Book Club, and is the president of The Long Now Foundation.

Brand is well known for founding, editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog (01968-85), which received a National Book Award for the 01972 issue. In 01984, he founded The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), a computer teleconference system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It now has 11,000 active users worldwide and is considered a bellwether of the genre.

Brand has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute, an interdisciplinary center studying the sciences of complexity, since 01989. He received the Golden Gadfly Lifetime Achievement Award from the Media Alliance, San Francisco in the same year.

He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization which supports civil rights and responsibilities in electronic media, and is an acting adviser to Ecotrust, Portland-based preservers of temperate rain forest from Alaska to San Francisco.

Brand is the author of many pioneering books including The Clock Of The Long Now in 01999, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built in 01994, The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT in 01987, and Two Cybernetic Frontiers on Gregory Bateson and cutting-edge computer science in 01974. It had the first use of the term "personal computer" in print and was the first book to report on computer hackers.

Rory Medcalf - Could US Disarmament Spark Increase in Nuclear Weapons?

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:49:03 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/29/Can_Obamas_Nuclear_Disarmament_Agenda_Work

Rory Medcalf raises concerns about the impact of American nuclear arms reductions on "extended deterrence." Without the U.S. promise to bring nuclear weapons to the defense of allies, other countries might feel compelled to build their own weapons.

-----

The Lowy Institute convenes an expert panel to examine the implications of President Obama's push to reduce nuclear dangers, as well as to debate broader questions about nuclear disarmament. - Lowy Institute for International Policy

Rory Medcalf worked variously as an intelligence analyst, diplomat and journalist before joining the Lowy Institute as the International Security Program Director in March 2007.

From 2003 to 2007, he was a senior strategic analyst with the Office of National Assessments, Australia's peak intelligence analysis agency. His work dealt with Australia's strategic environment, particularly power relations in Asia. From 1996 to 2003, Mr Medcalf was an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. From 2000 to 2003 he served at the Australian High Commission in New Delhi. His diplomatic experience also included a secondment to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he played a key role in drafting the Tokyo Forum report on nuclear non-proliferation, service as a truce monitor in Bougainville, policy development on the ASEAN Regional Forum and assisting the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Mr Medcalf's earlier work as print journalist was commended in Australia's premier media awards, the Walkleys. He has a first class Honours degree in political science and a University Medal from the University of Queensland.

He is the Australian convener of the Australia-India Roundtable and a research consultant for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

Francine Prose - Anne Frank's Diary Rises from Reject Pile to Bestseller

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:49:03 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/06/Anne_Frank_The_Book_the_Life_the_Afterlife

Author Francine Prose chronicles the arduous path that Anne Frank's diary traveled to get published in the United States. "The book was turned down everywhere," says Prose, because it was criticized as being "boring" and "domestic."

-----

Francine Prose talks about Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife. With the understanding one great writer has for another, Prose deftly parses the artistry, ambition, and enduring influence of the text millions have come to know as The Diary of a Young Girl. - Book Passage

Francine Prose is the author of many bestselling books of fiction, including A Changed Man and Blue Angel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and the nonfiction New York Times bestseller Reading Like a Writer.

Her novel, Household Saints, was adapted for a movie by Nancy Savoca. Another novel, The Glorious Ones, has been adapted into a musical of the same name by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, which ran at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York City in the Fall of 2007. Her latest novel, Goldengrove, was published in September 2008.

She is the president of PEN American Center. She lives in New York City.

Cornel West Sounds Off on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:49:03 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/09/Brother_West_Living_and_Loving_Out_Loud

Cornel West congratulates President Obama on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, but cautions that the honor comes with tremendous responsibility. "It's going to be hard to be a war president with a Peace Prize," he says.

-----

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

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.

Katherine Pollard - Positive Selection: Is the Human Genome Evolving?

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:49:03 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/03/Dr_Katherine_Pollard_What_Makes_Us_Human

UCSF biostatistics professor Dr. Katherine Pollard describes The Chimp Genome Project, which lists 15 genes associated with human diseases that originate in chimps. While some people have the "new human version" of the gene, others still have the "chimp version." Evidence, she claims, that humans are evolving away from their ancestral version.

-----

We are in the midst of a renaissance in the biological sciences, which is spurring the growth of brand new fields like functional and comparative genomics. These new fields are revealing novel insights into evolutionary biology, medicine, developmental biology and many other areas, transforming the way scientists look at life.

Join the California Academy of Sciences to learn about genomics, hear about compelling current research, and explore the future of this rapidly advancing field. - California Academy of Sciences

Katherine Pollard received her Ph.D. and M.A. from UC Berkeley Division of Biostatistics under the supervision of Mark van der Laan. Her research at Berkeley included developing computationally intensive statistical methods for analysis of microarray data with applications in cancer biology. After graduating, she did a postdoc at UC Berkeley with Sandrine Dudoit. She developed Bioconductor open source software packages for clustering and multiple hypothesis testing.

In 2003, she began a comparative genomics NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship in the labs of David Haussler and Todd Lowe in the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering at UC Santa Cruz. She was part of the Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium that published the sequence of the Chimp Genome, and she used this sequence to identify the fastest evolving regions in the human genome.

In 2005, she joined the faculty at the UC Davis Genome Center and Department of Statistics. She moved to UCSF in Fall 2008.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire: Why Do Children Fib?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:49:03 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/30/The_Secret_Lives_of_Parents_Revealed

Authors Po Bronson and Ayelet Waldman discuss the intricacies of childhood lying. Bronson offers the developmental cycle of lying in young children, while Waldman illustrates with a humorous story.

-----

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.

Nick Douglas - Is Twitter Shortening Our Attention Spans?

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:50:21 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/24/Twitter_Wit_Nick_Douglas_and_Guests

Nick Douglas, author of Twitter Wit, defends Twitter against accusations that it is contributing to shortened attention spans. Douglas draws from the example of a user named "shitmydadsays" to demonstrate how people are using the medium to create continuous story lines and build characters.

-----

In Twitter Wit, Nick Douglas has collected the best tweets out there. Douglas has assembled these aphorisms to champion the wit and wisdom that is shared among Twitter users.

Funny, astute, and perfectly economical, these 140-character pieces of perspective reveal how Twitter users can be philosophical, hilarious, and literary in a way that appeals to our contemporary (short) attention span. With submissions ranging from quotidian vignettes like "I bet in Sweden the Ikea instructions are in English," to bumper sticker-type quips like "I think the bird of love is the dove. My husband thinks it's the swallow," Twitter Wit has something in it that we can all relate to.

And with contributors ranging from celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Rainn Wilson, Russell Brand and John Hodgman to regular people with previously unappreciated sharp tongues, readers are sure to find new Twitter users to follow.

Featuring a foreword by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, this authorized anthology of the thousand most clever and memorable tweets relates the diversity of human experience in hilarious bite-sized pieces. - Booksmith

Nick Douglas is a technology writer and humorist known for bringing a sarcastic viewpoint to the usually dry world of tech journalism.

The founding editor of Valleywag, Gawker Media's blog about Silicon Valley, Douglas has also written for Wired, Slate, and the Huffington Post, among others. Douglas boasts over 9,000 followers on Twitter, making him one of the top 200 users on the site. He lives in New York City. Visit his website www.toomuchnick.com.

Steve Hildebrand - Blue Dogs Preventing Dems from Progressive 'Slam Dunk'?

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:47:03 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/28/Steve_Hildebrand_Obama_and_the_LGBT_Community

Political strategist Steve Hildebrand blames conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats for what he views as a lack of progress made by the Democratic majority within Congress. With majority control, he says, healthcare reform, equality for gay Americans, and climate change legislation should all be a "slam dunk."

-----

Hear about the Obama campaign, Obama's current relationship with the LGBT Community, and why 2010 is the year to overturn Prop 8.

Considered one of the premier political strategists in the nation, Steve Hildebrand served as Barack Obama's deputy national campaign manager during the historic 2008 campaign. When a rift appeared between the LGBT community and Obama last spring, Hildebrand mediated, explaining the position of many in the community.

Hildebrand is now at the center of the movement to repeal Prop. 8 in 2010, serving as a senior political advisor.

He discusses the 2008 campaign, gay rights issues in relation to the Obama administration, and the upcoming push to repeal Prop. 8. - Commonwealth Club of California

Steve Hildebrand served as Barack Obama's Deputy National Campaign Manager during the historic 2008 presidential campaign. His work with Obama began in September 2006, long before Sen. Obama made a decision to seek the presidency. Hildebrand was at the forefront of all strategic decisions and helped craft the overall campaign from the beginning until Obama's victory on Nov. 4, 2008.

Hildebrand's extensive political career has included managing races in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota as well as running two political parties. He oversaw the Midwestern states for the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign in 1996 and served as Political Director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1997-1998. In 1999 and 2000, Hildebrand ran the Iowa caucuses for Vice President Al Gore and the Women Vote! Program for EMILY's List. He managed Senator Tim Johnson's campaign in 2002 and Senator Tom Daschle's campaign in 2004.

Noam Chomsky: Big Business Dictates the Presidency

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:14:53 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/06/Noam_Chomsky_Philosophies_of_Language_and_Politics

"Campaign funding is a remarkable predictor of election, and also of policy," says linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky. He asserts that the Supreme Court is currently considering a lawsuit that would allow corporations to "buy elections directly, instead of indirectly."

-----

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.

Max Blumenthal - Deconstructing Sarah Palin: What's the Appeal?

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:51:26 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/29/Republican_Gomorrah_Max_Blumenthal

Journalist Max Blumenthal analyzes how Sarah Palin appealed to Republicans on both political and cultural levels. Naming her an "archetype of the right-wing woman," Blumenthal believes Sarah Palin's campaign never fully concluded.

-----

Award-winning journalist and documentary videographer Max Blumenthal has become one of the most important journalists writing about how the Religious Right fringe movement became the Republican Party mainstream.

Whether it was his revelation of Sarah Palin's involvement with a Kenyan pastor who boasted of epic battles with witches, or his expose of the eccentric theocratic multimillionaire behind California's Prop 8 anti-gay-marriage initiative, Blumenthal's reporting goes almost instantly viral, shocks thousands, has been cited everywhere from MSNBC to the New York Times, and has landed him interviews on Fresh Air and The Rachel Maddow Show. - Berkeley Arts and Letters

Max Blumenthal is one of the most constantly cited young liberal journalists in America and is regularly featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, Democracy Now and the Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

His articles and video documentaries have appeared in The Daily Beast, The Nation, The Huffington Post, Salon.com, Al Jazeera English and many other publications. He is a correspondent for The Daily Beast, a research fellow for Media Matters for America and a Puffin Writing Fellow for the Nation Institute. Visit him at www.maxblumenthal.com

Lise Eliot - Trucks and Trigonometry: Do Boys Excel in Math and Engineering?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:04:16 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/29/Lise_Eliot_Pink_Brain_Blue_Brain

Neurologist Lise Eliot addresses the claim that boys tend to surpass girls in the fields of math and engineering. Eliot argues that genetic differences play no role and attributes percieved academic advantages to the spatial abilities boys develop during play.

-----

Lise Eliot talks about Pink Brain, Blue Brain. Based on research in the field of neuroplasticity, Eliot zeroes in on the precise differences between boys and girls' brains and explains the harmful nature of gender stereotypes.

She offers parents and teachers concrete ways they can help all children reach their fullest potential. - Book Passage

Dr. Lise Eliot, Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the Chicago Medical School, received her Ph.D. in Physiology and Cellular Biophysics from Columbia University in 1991. Working in Eric Kandel's laboratory, she combined electrophysiology and calcium imaging methods to analyze the synaptic mechanisms underlying learning in the marine mollusc, Aplysia californica.

Dr. Eliot has published more than 50 works, including peer-reviewed journals articles, magazine pieces, and the book, What's Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life (Bantam, 2000). Honors include a Magna cum laude bachelor's degree from Harvard, a predoctoral NSF fellowship, a postdoctoral NIH fellowship, a Grass Fellowship in Neurophysiology, a Whiteley Scholarship from the University of Washington, and a Rosalind Franklin Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Eliot's newest book, Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps and What We Can Do About It, was published in September 2009 by Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt.

WSJ Editor David Wessel Defends 'Too Big to Fail' Banks

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:52:35 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/22/Ben_Bernanke_vs_the_Great_Panic_David_Wessel

David Wessel , Wall Street Journal economics editor and author of In Fed We Trust, explains why some financial institutions are viewed as "too big to fail." Although these large institutions are inherently risky, Wessel believes they are necessary in a global economy. The question, he says, is how do we regulate them?

-----

How did we find ourselves confronting the worst threat to the US economy since the Great Depression?

Journalist David Wessel explains what the Federal Reserve did right and did wrong, where the economy stands now and where it is headed. - Commonwealth Club of California

David Wessel is economics editor for The Wall Street Journal and writes the Capital column, a weekly look at the economy and forces shaping living standards around the world. He is responsible for overseeing coverage of the Fed and the Journal’s daily coverage of the macro economy, global trade and economic trends. He appears frequently on National Public Radio.

His book, In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic, will be published August 4, 2009.

Previously, Mr. Wessel was deputy bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau. David joined The Wall Street Journal in 1984 in Boston, and moved to Washington in 1987. In 1999 and 2000, he served as the newspaper's Berlin bureau chief.

Healthcare Hysteria: Daschle Blasts Media Coverage

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:36:39 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/16/Tom_Daschle_Weighs_in_on_the_Healthcare_Debate

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle criticizes the news media's sensational coverage of the healthcare debate and town hall protests. "The media have acted as irresponsibly on this debate as anything I've seen in public life," he says.

-----

New School President Bob Kerrey engages in an informal discussion with Tom Daschle, former U.S. senator and congressman, leading healthcare reform advocate, and public policy expert.

They discuss the growing misinformation and confusion surrounding the healthcare debate, and discuss possible solutions to this increasingly complex problem. - New School

Thomas Andrew Daschle is a former U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader from South Dakota. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated on November 2, 2004, by the Republican candidate, John Thune, in his bid for re-election.

He is currently a Special Policy Advisor at the law firm Alston and Bird LLP, visiting professor at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Bob Kerrey is president of The New School in New York City. For twelve years prior to becoming president of The New School, Bob Kerrey represented the State of Nebraska in the United States Senate. Before that, he served as Nebraska's governor for four years.

Bob Kerrey is the author of When I Was A Young Man: A Memoir, published by Harcourt Books (May 2002). He served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, currently leads a five year writing challenge sponsored by The National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges, and is co-chair with Newt Gingrich of The National Commission for Quality Long-Term Care.

Oracle's Larry Ellison Predicts Prolonged US Economic Recession

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:37:22 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/21/Oracle_CEO_Larry_Ellison_Unscripted

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says he does not foresee a substantial recovery in the US economy for at least five years. "The problem is the American consumer is so deeply in debt," he says. "We're not going to have rapid recovery from this."

-----

Larry Ellison is one of the most successful business leaders in the world today. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear Ellison speak his mind about the future of tech, the industry, the world, and more, in conversation with tech veteran Ed Zander.

Industry giants Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO, and Ed Zander, former CEO, Motorola, and former president of Sun Microsystems, take the stage in this rare, unscripted discussion. - Churchill Club

Larry Ellison has been CEO of Oracle Corporation since he founded the company in 1977. He also races sailboats, flies planes, and plays tennis and guitar.

Marsha Blackburn - Can Obama Learn From Tennessee's Health Care 'Disaster'?

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:11:32 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/06/09/Marsha_Blackburn_Future_of_Employer-Provided_Healthcare

Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) claims Tennessee's government-run health insurance plan TennCare is a "disaster." She warns a federally sponsored public option would likely result in a similar outcome. State spending in Tennessee, she says, accelerated from 2.5 billion dollars in 1995 to 8 billion in 2004 because people dropped their private insurance in favor of the "public option."

-----

There is little disagreement the current healthcare system needs an overhaul. The U.S. spends over $2.4 trillion dollars annually on healthcare and costs have doubled since 2000 for employer-based family coverage. Options are shrinking.

Most agree reform is needed but the debate lies with two competing ideals for the future of healthcare. One is where Washington controls financing and delivery and is seen as the solution, not the problem; while the other contends individuals and families are the best judge of how to spend health care dollars.

In the middle lie employers and Congress. The Heritage Foundation hosts an event addressing the future of reform and how it will impact employee provided healthcare.

Marsha Blackburn is a Tennessee politician. A member of the Republican Party, she represents Tennessee's 7th congressional district, which stretches from the suburbs of Nashville to the suburbs of Memphis.

Marsha Blackburn is an established, conservative, results-oriented legislator who solves problems. She was sent to the U.S. House of Representatives at the start of the 108th Congress where she was one of only a few newly-elected congressmen selected to serve as an assistant whip on the majority whip team and the first female in Tennessee elected in her own right to the US House.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: I'd Work for Obama

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:34:44 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/24/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_on_Building_a_Clean-Energy_Economy

"Anyway I can help the Obama administration to be successful," says California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I will do so." The governor reiterates that partisan politics should not get in the way of America's continued success.

-----

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will soon convene a global summit of governors from developing countries to advance the transition to a clean-energy economy.

Listen to the governor as he discusses California's role managing greenhouse gases, promoting green jobs and developing clean technology before he hosts the Governors' Global Climate Summit.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of the state of California. In May 2004 and 2007, he was named as one of the Time 100 people who help shape the world.

Schwarzenegger is married to Maria Shriver and has four children.

Chris Anderson - Free Now, Pay Later: Microsoft Turns Piracy into Profit

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:01:07 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/23/Free-Conomics_with_Chris_Anderson

Wired editor and author Chris Anderson explains Microsoft's rather progressive stance on pirating. Microsoft takes a long view on young companies (and developing countries) who pirate its software, gambling that early exposure will lead to future business and increased profits for the software giant.

-----

Apparently there is such a thing as a free lunch. Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails capitalized on offering their music for free, Google lets us search, e-mail and use all kinds of free applications, and ATT will give you a cell phone gratis, if you just buy their monthly plan. These are only a fraction of the businesses that have helped to establish a full-fledged economy based on the concept of zero dollars down.

Wired's Chris Anderson explains the recent phenomenon of making lots of money by charging nothing. Is everything moving toward "free now, pay later"? What are the consequences? - Commonwealth Club of California

Chris Anderson is editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, which has won a National Magazine Award under his tenure. He coined the phrase "The Long Tail" in an acclaimed Wired article, which he expanded upon in the book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More (2006). He currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife and four young children. Before joining Wired in 2001, he worked at The Economist, where he launched their coverage of the Internet. He also has a degree in physics from George Washington University and did research at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has also worked at the prestigious journals Nature and Science.

Arthur Ganson - A Machine for Softening Hardened Hearts

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:25:52 -0700

This program features visual demos. To view a video version of this highlight, visit: http://fora.tv/2009/09/14/Arthur_Ganson_Machines_and_the_Breath_of_Time#Arthur_Ganson_Creates_Art_to_Caress_Hitlers_Heart

Kinetic sculptor Arthur Ganson explains his "Machine for Softening Hardened Hearts," an artwork that allows the user to "caress" the heart of Adolf Hitler. The piece explores the personal nature of evil and forgiveness. "It's really about the evolution of the soul," he says.

-----

Kinetic sculptor Arthur Ganson shows a series of his works and explores how his intricate machines address issues of time, motion, purpose and existence. - The Long Now Foundation

Arthur Ganson is a renowned kinetic sculptor. Ganson makes mechanical art demonstrations and Rube Goldberg machines with existential themes. Ganson has held residencies in science museums, collaborated with the Studebaker Movement Theatre, and been featured in one-man shows at MIT Museum, Harvard's Carpenter Center, the DeCordova Museum, and the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in New York. He has a permanent installation at the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He was a MIT artist-in-residence and some of his work is on permanent display at the Gestural Engineering exhibit at MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A.J. Jacobs - What I Learned from Reading the Entire Encyclopedia

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:55:10 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/16/My_Life_As_An_Experiment_AJ_Jacobs

Author A.J. Jacobs describes details he retained from reading the encyclopedia cover to cover. He explains that while 98% of what he read has been forgotten, many odd facts - like the number of nipples on a possum - are "stuck."

-----

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.

Richard Epstein on the End-of-Life Care Dilemma: Who Gets Booted from the ICU?

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:39:05 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/17/Richard_Epstein_Breaking_Down_Healthcare_Reform

Law professor Richard Epstein discusses the ethical and financial quandary of costly end-of-life care. He argues that money commonly spent on those at or near their life expectancy would be more wisely spent on prolonging the lives of young people.

-----

Richard Epstein, professor of law at The University of Chicago, discusses the current proposal for healthcare reform.

He points out inconsistencies in what is been promised and what is in the bill, and makes suggestions for a more efficient health care system. - Columbia Law School

Richard A. Epstein, the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, is the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Epstein is also, as of 2007, a visiting professor of law at NYU Law School.

Kevin Bales - Sex Slave Changes an Activist's Life

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:12:55 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/09/RIGHTS_Kevin_Bales_on_Ending_Slavery_and_Human_Trafficking

Kevin Bales, author of the Slave Next Door, recalls a life-changing epiphany that occurred over a meal of "jumping shrimp" with a young Thai sex worker. "She opened up a window on horror and terror and torture and serial rape that, I have to say, changed my heart."

-----

Bales discusses the definition of slavery, how the population explosion has transformed slavery in the modern age, and how changing the patterns of global demand can effectively increase the value of human beings.

Bales' momentum: "We can end slavery, the laws are in place, the economics work, there is no debate -- everyone agrees it should end. All it takes is a good hard shove and it goes over the brink of its own extinction. Imagine being able to give our kids a world without slavery." - Momentum Conference

Going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed how modern slavery penetrates the global economy and flows into the things we buy. Named by Utne Reader as a "visionary who is changing your world;" and the originator of one of "100 World-Changing Discoveries" by the Association of British Universities, he is a leading abolitionist in the anti-slavery movement. In 2001 he founded Free the Slaves, the American sister organization of the UK’s Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights group. In eight years it has helped to liberate thousands of slaves in India, Nepal, Haiti, Ghana, Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Bangladesh, and worked with them to build new lives of dignity.

After reading Bales' book Ending Slavery, President Clinton told the plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative: "It tells you that it is a problem we can solve and here’s how to do it." This year, with Ron Soodalter, he published The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, an expose and plan to make America slave-free at last.

Michael Moore Warns Obama on Afganistan

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:15:58 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/17/Filmmaker_Michael_Moore_on_Capitalism_A_Love_Story

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore remains optimistic about President Obama, but is concerned about prolonged military action in Afghanistan. "Five months from now, if he's still sending troops to Afghanistan...it should no longer be considered Bush's war. It will be known as Obama's war."

-----

Who are we and why do we behave the way that we do? Writer, director and producer Michael Moore has been trying to answer that question his entire filmmaking career. His latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, investigates the powerful forces behind the calamitous predicament in which countless Americans are finding themselves: losing their homes, jobs and savings to foot the bill for past spending.

What is the price that America - and the rest of the world - pays for its love of capitalism?

From Middle America to the halls of power in Washington to the global financial epicenter in Manhattan, Moore takes filmgoers into uncharted territory as he tries to get to the heart of the matter. - Commonwealth Club of California

Michael Moore is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, author and liberal political commentator. He is the director and producer of Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Sicko, three of the top five highest-grossing documentaries of all time.

In September 2008, he released his first free movie on the Internet, Slacker Uprising, documenting his personal crusade to encourage more Americans to vote in presidential elections. He has also written and starred in the TV shows "TV Nation" and "The Awful Truth."

Moore is a self-described liberal who has criticized globalization, large corporations, assault weapon ownership, the Iraq War, U.S. President George W. Bush and the American health care system in his written and cinematic works. In 2005, Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people.

Also in 2005, Moore started the annual Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan. In 2008, he closed his Manhattan office and moved it to Traverse City, where he is working on his new film.

T.R. Reid - With Regulation, Is a Public Option Necessary?

podcasts@fora.tv — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:11:47 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/14/TR_Reid_The_Healing_of_America

Reporter and author T.R. Reid argues that a public option is not necessary if the government is properly regulating the insurance industry. "No other country that has health insurance has a public option," he says. "They don't need it, because they get to the same place by regulation."

-----

T.R. Reid talks about his book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care.

NY Times-bestselling author Reid shows how other industrialized democracies have done something the U.S. can't seem to do: provide healthcare for everybody at a reasonable cost. - Commonwealth Club of California

T.R. Reid is a former foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, a commentator for National Public Radio and the author of nine books, including three in Japanese. His 10th book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, was published by Penguin Press in the summer of 2009.

Jane Goodall: There Is Still Hope for the Environment

podcasts@fora.tv — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:35:22 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/09/Jane_Goodall_Hope_for_Animals_and_Their_World

Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, expresses dismay at pessimistic attitudes some American youth hold towards environmental issues. Goodall explains that her Roots and Shoots program attempts to share the philosophy that every person's environmental impact - positive or negative - makes a difference.

-----

Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, gives a special keynote lecture at Georgetown University.

Join Dr. Goodall as she shares stories from her new book, Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species are Being Rescued from the Brink, named by Amazon.com as one of the "best books of the year." - Georgetown University

Dame Jane Goodall, DBE, is an English UN Messenger of Peace, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist.

She is best-known for her study of chimpanzee social and family life in Gombe Stream National Park for 45 years, and for founding the Jane Goodall Institute.

Johan Norberg - How to Ruin the Economy in Seven Easy Steps

podcasts@fora.tv — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:02:46 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/01/Financial_Fiasco_The_US_Infatuation_with_Home_Ownership

Author and historian Johan Norberg gives an abbreviated version of the events that caused the housing bubble and primed the financial crisis.

-----

How was it possible that in a world where thousands of people regulated financial markets the whole system crashed down? And should we now give more power to central banks, government agencies, politicians, and regulators? Isn't that what brought us here in the first place?

Financial Fiasco digs deep into the foundation of the economic meltdown, revealing how it was the product of conscious actions by decisionmakers in companies, government agencies, and political institutions, and by consumers. Financial Fiasco tells the compelling story of how rate-cutting by the Federal Reserve inflated the real estate market and fueled increased risk-taking in the financial markets; how new government policies to promote home ownership blasted air into the credit bubble; how new financial instruments, credit-rating requirements, and accounting rules intended to prevent cheating backfired; and much more. - Cato Institute

Johan Norberg is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a writer who focuses on globalization, entrepreneurship, and individual liberty. Norberg is the author and editor of several books exploring liberal themes, including a history of liberal pioneers in Swedish history. His book In Defense of Global Capitalism, originally published in Swedish in 2001, has since been published in over twenty different countries.

Norberg's articles and opinion pieces appear regularly in both Swedish and international newspapers, and he is a regular commentator and contributor on television and radio around the world discussing globalization and free trade. Prior to joining Cato, Norberg was head of political ideas at Timbro, a Swedish free-market think tank, from 2003 to 2005.

Ethan Nadelmann - Drug War's Racist Roots?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:29:34 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/09/CONNECTIONS_Ethan_Nadelmann_on_Legalizing_Drugs

Ethan Nadelmann delves into the history of drug prohibition and its relation to racism and class segregation. "The distinction between which drugs should be legal and which drugs should be illegal had essentially nothing to do with the relative dangers of these drugs."

-----

Ethan Nadelmann is presenting at Momentum 2009 on the Connections plenary: We can't hope to fashion a better society unless we recognize the interplay of the pressing issues of our time. Where do we stand in relation to our best ideas - freedom of the press, access to education, a legal system that serves the people?

This plenary connects the dots between rhetoric and reality and reminds us that healthy public discourse is impossible without an informed citizenry. - Momentum Conference

Described by Rolling Stone as "the point man" for drug policy reform efforts, Ethan Nadelmann is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform both in the United States and abroad. He is the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States advocating for drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health, and human rights.

He has written articles for a wide range of journals, including Science, Foreign Affairs, American Heritage, and National Review, and is the author of Cops Across Borders, the first scholarly study of the internationalization of U.S. criminal law enforcement.

He received his B.A., J.D., and Ph.D. from Harvard, and a Master's degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and then taught politics and public affairs at Princeton University.

Jonathan Zittrain - Internet Privacy and the Star Wars Kid

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:41:52 -0700

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/05/15/Jonathan_Zittrain_The_Future_of_the_Internet

Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain uses the Star Wars kid viral video to discuss issues of online privacy. While mainstream media never thought to protect the minor's identity, Wikipedians argued to delete his surname out of courtesy, not because they feared being sued.

-----

Jonathan Zittrain talks about the internet within the context of his book: The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It. - Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University

Jonathan L. Zittrain is an American professor of Internet law at Harvard Law School and a faculty co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

Previously, Zittrain was Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute of the University of Oxford and visiting professor at the New York University School of Law and Stanford Law School. He is the author, most recently, of The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It; and co-editor of the book Access Denied.