Jeff Schechtman's "Talk Cocktail"

Monday, August 30, 2010

August 28, 1963: A dream awakened

Even though Glen Beck and Sarah Palin tried to soil it, this past weekend marked the forty-seventh anniversary of the March on Washington. The original event marked the 100th anniversary of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, as a quarter of a million people, black and white, gathered in Washington for what Martin Luther King called "the greatest demonstration of freedom in our nation's history." But the march was, even then, not without its detractors and took place in the context of an expanding Civil Rights movement and an escalating war in Vietnam. At the time many actually believed that such a march could change the course of race relations in America, and in many ways it did. Author and lecturer Charles Euchner, in his new book Nobody Turn Me Around: A People's History of the 1963 March on Washington, has given us a compelling history of that march and given us some contemporary context from which to judge it.

My conversation with Charles Euchner:

Thursday, August 26, 2010

The only thing we have to fear......

When FDR said that "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself," he may have been on to something more than just calming a frightened nation. He could not have known that he was going to the heart of a deep contemporary psychological insight about fear and its root causes.

While we all experience some level of apprehension, there is a low level current of less noticeable fear that inform everyday choices, disrupt relationships, creates stress and acts as subconscious saboteurs. Harvard Psychotherapist Dr. Srini Pallay, in his book Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear, looks at the cutting edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show how our biggest roadblock to happiness and success is fear.

My conversation with Dr. Srnivasan Pillay:

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Washington Rules and the end of the American Century

For over 60 years we have believed in the notion of The American Century. That idea has, over the years, morphed to represent a framework and justification for the seemingly unlimited projection of American power. Even our mistakes are justified in name of some divine right or manifest international destiny to direct the actions of the world. In fact, the U.S. spends more on its military than the entire rest of the world combined. Now former US Army colonel turned academic Andrew Bacevich, in his new book Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War, gives us an important critique of the assumptions that have, for too long, guided American policy, regardless of political party.

My conversation with Andrew Bacevich:

Monday, August 23, 2010

Ethical Collapse at Hewlett-Packard

If our recent financial meltdown tells us anything, it is that corporate governance matters. Sure there are powerful economic forces always at play, but we see that financial institutions, automakers and even technology companies suffered at the hands of the personal mistakes and questionable character on the part of corporate "deciders."

Four years ago, Hewlett-Packard, one of the most iconic names in Silicone Valley, was plunged into a tawdry scandal that involved cover up, wiretapping, private investigators, big money and even bigger egos. In many ways it was the canary in the coal mine for what would happen on a far boarder basis. The recent resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd was, it turns out, less about a sex scandal and more a capstone on four years of corporate turmoil at HP. Award winning business journalist Anthony Bianco in his new book The Big Lie: Spying, Scandal, and Ethical Collapse at Hewlett Packard, gives us a first hand account of a corporate morality tale for our times.

My conversation with Anthony Bianco:

Thursday, August 19, 2010

California Crackup

The State of California was once a model of governance, creativity and infrastructure. In Joan Didion's words, it was a place where "the dream was teaching the dreamers how to live." Today it is a State in crises. A government and infrastructure arguably beyond repair. A political system paralyzed by partisan gridlock, self interest and the corruption of self serving public employee unions. Yet, when we look at the origins of the crises, it's fair to say that "we have seen the enemy and he is us." Two veteran California journalists, Joe Mathews and Mark Paul in their new book California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It, take an insightful look at and offer a comprehensive analysis of California's dysfunctional state.

My conversation with Joe Mathews and Mark Paul:

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Pat Tillman's real story

Pat Tillman's life was never conventional. That unconventional nature led him to become an NFL star and then to be so moved by the events of 9/11 that he gave up his multi-million dollar NFL career to join the Army and go to Iraq and Afghanistan. At some point, as his diary's reveal, he began to detest the war in Iraq and question even the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. And then, on April 22, 2004, he was killed by "friendly fire."

Without question the Army, under the direction of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, tried to cover it up and attempted to make Tillman's death something that it was not. What happened next gave rise to the real Pat Tillman story and to the investigative work of best selling author Jon Krakauer. His book Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman is just out in paperback.

My conversation with Jon Krakauer:

Monday, August 9, 2010

Why monogamy doesn't work. The prehistoric origins of modern sexuality

Suppose everything we've been told about sexual relationships and monogamy was wrong? What if the whole idea of the nuclear family narrative was inconsistent with science and with the origins and nature of human sexuality. These are just some of the bold arguments put forth by Christopher Ryan in his new book Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality. The book that has been call "the single most important book about human sexuality since Alfred Kinsey."

My conversation with Christopher Ryan:

Friday, August 6, 2010

Defeat and fantasies of betrayal

As the war in Afghanistan goes badly, as evidenced by the recent WikiLeaks documents, no doubt that in a year or so we will be looking for someone to blame. Just as Americans had the need to explain emasculation and defeat in Vietnam through fantasies of home-front betrayal, like images of Jane Fonda and the character of "Hanoi Jane," perhaps our current failures will give rise to a whole new and similar kind of imagery. Certainly anxieties about America's declining global status and deteriorating economy are fueling a populist reaction now, just as they did then.

Jerry Lembcke, in his book Hanoi Jane: War, Sex, and Fantasies of Betrayal, gives us provocative analysis of how and why Jane Fonda, the person, become Hanoi Jane the myth and what we might lean from that mythology.

My conversation with Jerry Lembcke:

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Marriage equality does work!

According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans now favor marriage equality. Yesterdays decision by Judge Vaughn Walker, while far from the final word, is yet another step in a ladder climbing inexorably toward the acceptance of marriage equality. In light of Judge Walker's ruling, it seems an ideal time to look at the core institution of same sex marriage in those nations and places where it has been the law for sometime. In doing so, perhaps we can better understand it rationale, its benefits and assuage some of the legitimate fears surrounding this issue. Yale Law Professor William Eskridge, Jr. in his book Gay Marriage: for Better or for Worse?: What We've Learned from the Evidence looks at the empirical data from those places that have long since accepted these ideas.

My conversation with Professor Eskridge:

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Friend or Foe?

Facebook has become ubiquitous! It has just acquired its 500 millionth member, which represents about twenty-five percent of people, around the world that use the Internet. Yet unlike Google or Apple, or even Twitter, one constantly wonders about Facebook's real relevance. Questions are also raised about its founder, whose reputation has been less then iconic. How did this company become so ingrained in the culture, who are its principal players and what might its future hold? These are just some of the questions tackled by preeminent technology journalist David Kirkpatrick in his new book The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World.

My conversation with David Kirkpatrick:

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The War Logs

Earlier this week we saw the release of some 92,000 reports that make up a six year archive of classified military documents. These documents offer a raw picture of the nine year war in Afghanistan. While many have said these reports are but punctuation on what we already know, they paint a portrait far more damaging than anything we have hereto for been told by the administration or by the American military.

The documents were released though the controversial website WikiLeaks and released here in the US, exclusively to The New York Times. One of the lead journalists on the The New York Times team on this story, is two time Pulitzer Prize winner Eric Schmitt.

My conversation with Eric Schmitt:

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Once bitten

Imagine, a disease we've known how to prevent and cure for over a century that still infects five-hundred million people every year, killing nearly one million of them. In recent years, malaria has made headlines as the cause-celebe of a wide range of luminaries and philanthropists. But the reality is that millions of dollars are going toward mosquito bed nets that will never be used, funding wars are compromising the work of leading researchers, and many people in the worlds most malarious countries still view the disease as a benign affliction like the common cold or flu. These are the questions that journalist Sonia Shah sets out to tackle in The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years, her look at malaria and its effect on human lives.

My conversation with Sonia Shah:

Monday, July 26, 2010

Morning Miracle

When we talk about newspapers today as entities, as brands, as institutions that need to change to reflect new economic and technological realities, we sometimes forget that at core they are and need to continue to be platforms for reporters and great reporting. One such institution that has been such a platform is the venerable Washington Post. Journalist Dave Kindred, in his new book Morning Miracle: Inside the Washington Post A Great Newspaper Fights for Its Life, gives us an up close and personal look at today's 21st century newsroom.

My conversation with Dave Kindred:

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Last Gasp

Beyond the debate about capital punishment, is the reality of the various methods used. From 1924 through 1999, for over 75 years, the gas chamber has been a part of this dreadful reality. What is the history of this method of execution, that was for so long, the norm in California. And what is the connection, morally and corporately, between our use of the gas chamber in America and the spreading of the gas chamber throughout the world, even in WWI and WWII. Investigative journalist and historian Scott Christianson breaks it all down in his book The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber.

My conversation with Scott Christanson:

She is not one of us!

The state of Arizona recently passed a law banning human/animal hybrids. This debate, like so much about the discussion of genetics today goes to the heart of what it means to be human. This idea, combined with understanding how difficult it is to be a teenager, is at the center of Laurence Gonzales' new novel Lucy.

My conversation with Laurence Gonzales

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Is altruism really possible?

How do we reconcile the fundamental idea of evolution, survival of the fittest, with the idea of altruism? We know that throughout nature, living things often pass up advantages and make sacrifices to help fellow members of their species. Such behavior is however, counter to evolutionary ideas and leads us to wonder if pure selflessness really can and ever exist. Oren Harman, Chair in the Program of Science, Technology and Society at Bar Ilan University in Israel weaves together, in his new work The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness, theses mysteries in the context of the story of one man committed to truth and sacrifice.

My conversation with Oren Harman:

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Welcome to Utopia?

For those of us who grew up in and around big cities, the idea of small town America is often alien and perplexing. Yet, if we scratch beneath the surface there a poignancy in looking at places still untouched by the ethos of popular culture. Such a place is Utopia, Texas. A town ninety miles west of San Antonio, it has no movie theaters or bookstore and only recently has it gotten internet and cable television. Entertainment Weekly senior writer Karen Valby, in her new book Welcome to Utopia: Notes from a Small Town takes us deep inside this place of cowboys and farmers and shows what happens when the tensions of small-town life confront a new reality of creative destruction.

My conversation with Karen Valby:

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Steinbrenner

George Steinbrenner redefined he fundamental relationship between an owner and his team. He was perhaps the best know owner in modern sport. He was twice suspended from the game and yet he was the longest running Yankees owner and also the most financially successful, having turned his original personal investment of just $168,00 into a multi-billion dollar behemoth.

Bill Madden, who covered the Yankees for over 30 years as the national baseball correspondent for the New York Daily News, was the first person that the Steinbrenner family allowed to report on George and his controversial and colorful life in his book Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball.

My conversation with Bill Madden:

Ayelet Waldman's RED HOOK ROAD

Five years ago Ayelet Waldman ignited a controversy when she wrote in an essay that she loved her husband more then her children. In her subsequent memoir Bad Mother, which has just been released in paperback, she details the fallout of that essay as well as the reality of trying to be a good mother amidst the judgmental juggernaut of her "friends" Now, in her new novel Red Hook Road, she once again delves into the reality of family, along side the issues of class, music and the pain of loosing a child; and how our sense of place and ritual work to help us heal.

My conversation with Ayelet Waldman: