Jeff Schechtman's "Talk Cocktail"

"To discover to the world something which deeply concerns it, and of which it was previously ignorant; to prove to it that it had been mistaken on some vital point of temporal or spiritual interest, is as important a service as a human being can render to his fellow creatures..." John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

Friday, November 28, 2008

Doonsbury explains it all to us!

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Obama's voice

Obama's 27 year old speech writer Jeff Favreau is moving into the White House . I don't know if he's old enough to shave, but ...

Elections do matter!

A long, but very worthwhile piece about why elections matter from veteran Washington journalist Elizabeth Drew . Money quote: Obama underst...

"Palling around with terrorists"

My conversation with former anti-war activist and 60's radical William Ayers. We discussed his book Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-...

Monday, November 24, 2008

Kerry Kennedy talks about Catholisism and her father

Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, talks about modern day Catholicism, her faith and a special memorial for her father. Her new ...

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Obama skips church, heads to gym

Some of us knew why we liked this guy. In addition to policy and smarts, he's got his priorities straight. Politico reports.

Friday, November 21, 2008

45 Years and still no clarity

Saturday marks the 45th anniversary of the JFK assassination. It still amazes me how many "theories" still proliferate about what...

The Best and the Brightest Redux

Forty Five years ago tomorrow, the era of the "The Best and the Brightest" came to an abrupt end. David Brooks thinks it's b...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Jedi Mind Trick

In just two weeks Obama has convinced both the left netroots and the thinking conservatives that he's serving both of their interests. ...

Education, Education, Education

Five visionary educators have joined together to share their personal stories of the challenges and triumphs they faced in the classroom, an...

NO BAILOUT

This is why there shoud be no bailout of the auto companies. Will Rogers said during the depression that "we were the first nation in...

2008, Not the Year of the Woman

Even with Hillary Clinton and Sara Palin, it was not a good year for the progress of woman in public life. Amanda Fortini explains it all i...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Is Obama really this smart!

After a huge and historic victory, what better way to go about the hard work of selecting a Cabinet and a White House staff in relative peac...

Hitchens shares the love..

The pugnacious Christopher Hitchens explains to Chris Matthews why Hillary for SOS is a really bad idea. Hard to argue. The New York Post ...

Monday, November 17, 2008

A war of choice that also didn't work!

McGeorge Bundy was the the principal archetect of the war in Vietnam. One of Kennedy's best and brightest, he never spoke of the war or ...

Sunday, November 16, 2008

What we can lean from a very special Gray Parrot

Sometimes we get to push politics and the world aside, no matter how bad things look, and appreciate both the progress of science and the es...

How Newspapers might think about reinventing themselves.

If Radio and Bicycles can still exist, why not Newspapers. It's not really the same, but Catherine Rampell, editor of the New York Tim...

Why the Federal government can't work!

This article in today's New York Times , as to why Obama may not be able to use something that dramatically increase everyone productiv...

Saturday, November 15, 2008

The End of Wall Street?

Michael Lewis, of Liar's Poker fame returns to Wall Street to examine what went wrong. His article in Portfolio .

Friday, November 14, 2008

Howard Dean was at the cutting edge! Who knew?

N.Y. Times Magazine political writer Matt Bai writes in this Sunday's Magazine Section about how Howard Dean may have been prescient in ...

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About

Jeff Schechtman: Napa, California, United States; I grew up during the Kennedy Presidency. It was a time when the best and the brightest sat center stage in the nation's psyche. I've always remembered the story, that at an arts gala at the White House, Kennedy looked around the room and proclaimed it "the greatest gathering of talent since Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Without the benefit of such trappings, I've had the opportunity, for the past nineteen years, to have a seat at an international banquet of ideas and history. My radio program provided me a unique opportunity to "travel" around the world and speak to thousands of the most imaginative thinkers and leaders in the arenas of politics, religion, journalism, business, popular culture, academics, science, economics, history, and medicine. During these years, I have taken many people with me on this journey. It has been a momentous time. The trauma of politics, the onslaught of technology, the insights of science, and the changes in the human condition make this a period almost unequaled in history. I'm excited that technology has now made it possible for me to take more of you along with me on this journey.

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