2014 National Book Award Winner, Jacqueline Woodson

Recently we spoke of the 50 Anniversary of Freedom Summer and the early flowering of the civil rights movement. Much has been written of the historical roots and narrative of those events. But now Jacqueline Woodson tells her personal story and the larger story of the journey of a movement from the Deep South, to urban core of America.

The story of Brown Girl Dreaming is a story made all the more powerful by recent events that bring into focus the arc of that journey. A journey that ended short of its target.

My conversation with Jacqueline Woodson:

Language and Cultural Evolution

When we do think about the state or origins of language, we often think about it as something based in the distant past. But language is very much a living thing, with a direct nexus to our cultural evolution. The choices we make about the words we use, reflect both our own place in the culture as well as the state of the culture itself.

This is all part of the unique work of Princeton Professor Daniel Cloud in The Domestication of Language: Cultural Evolution and the Uniqueness of the Human Animal.

My conversation with Professor Daniel Cloud:

For the Military-Internet Complex, everyday is Cyber Monday

There is virtually no aspect of life today, not impacted by the internet. From setting the thermostat in our house, to the games we play, to the way we connect, to the collection of intelligence on America’s friends and enemies. It’s no surprise then that the very core of America's military and its defensive capability, is also wrapped up in the world of cyber warfare and cyber security.

But at what cost? While Eisenhower may have admonished us to beware of the military/industrial complex, today a military/internet complex has grown even larger, and as the Snowden revelations tell us, it may have seeped into every aspect of our lives. This is the world that Shane Harris exposes in @War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex.

My conversation with Shane Harris:

Cheryl Strayed's WILD

Back in the 1940’s theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the serenity prayer. You all know it. It tells us to accept those things that we can’t change and the courage to change those we can and the wisdom to know the difference. Over the years, it’s been adopted by AA and various other groups. But it might also be the coda for Cheryl Strayed's fantastically successful book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

The story of her trek on the Pacific Crest Trail, it’s also the story of coming of age and Cheryl's journey out of her own heart of darkness. The book is out in paperback and it is now a major motion picture.

My conversation with Cheryl Strayed:

Gus Speth explains why the Environmental Movement still matters

Perhaps part of what plagues us when we think about most issues today, is that we tend to see them in very myopic ways. The world is a more and more complex place, and yet we do the opposite of what we should do. We too often silo information or categories, or problems.

We don’t always see the connections and therefore we get frustrated, because we can’t seem to solve the problems.

Environmental issues are no different. My guest, one of the fathers of the environmental movement, James "Gus" Speth, believes that when we talk about environmentalism, it’s more than the air, or the water, or the earth. That there is a holistic approach we need to take that is essential if we want to solve anything.

He writes about this in the context of his own history in his memoir Angels by the River.

My conversation with Gus Speth:

Technology will keep us together

As we listened to election results earlier this month, the one thing we heard over and over again is the slicing and dicing of the electorate. Into generations, incomes, ethnicity, etc.

We also hear repeatedly about the complexity and challenges of today's multi-generational workplace.

With all of this talk about division, it's perhaps worth looking at what might actually unite us. There is an answer we might find surprising, and that is technology. To paraphrase the old orange juice commercial; technology, it’s not just for Millennials anymore.

In fact, the use and strategic advantage of technology may be the most unifying forces for all us. That's the conclusion reached by Thomas Koulopoulos and Dan Keldsen in The Gen Z Effect: The Six Forces Shaping the Future of Business.

My conversation with Thomas Koulopoulos:

Leading with Intention

In a business environment as data driven as ours is today, it’s not surprising that we don’t view success through the lens that Fitzgerald used to describe Gatsby, who saw his success as “an unbroken series of successful gestures.”

Still success to be sustainable and replicable, both personal and professional, has to be more than habit or behavior, or just data.

In a world in which changes take place so quickly, in which workforce diversity both generational and ethnic, is so varied, the traditional solutions to problems are not always applicable.

As we often hear said about the military, you can’t fight the next war with the lessons learned from the last one

That’s why design and intentions are so important as tools for driving both leaders and their organizations.

That's what Mindy Hall focuses on in Leading with Intention: Every Moment Is a Choice

My conversation with Mindy Hall:

A Father and Daughter Cook Their Way Around the World

One of the foundations of the changing nature of education, is the idea of deeper learning. Direct, hands on mastery of content, though solving real world problems in a collaborative way. This has created dramatic results in all academic areas.

But it’s also something that can take place right at home. That’s what best selling author Mark Kurlansky did with his daughter Talia. They combined culture, geography, chemistry and all in the context of preparing delicious meals.

Now they share their efforts in International Night: A Father and Daughter Cook Their Way Around the World.

My conversation with Mark and Talia Kurlansky:

The quest driven life

To dream the impossible dream has been the great engine of progress in the world. From the early explorers, to scientists and engineers, to man's quest to explore the planets. The story of exploration is the story of mankind.

When John Kennedy laid down the predicate of reaching the moon by the end of a decade, he defined for the whole county that kind of clear goal that also drives individuals forward.

The story of some of these individuals, along with his own quest, is what Chris Guillebeau writes about in The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life.

My conversation with Chris Guillebeau:

The Sounds of Silence...Deaf Culture and what it means to hear

Remembering the early days of the cell of phone, we all remember, “can you hear me now.” For most of us this was modern nuisance. But for some, those that are hearing impaired, or profoundly deaf, those words have far greater meaning.

While much progress has been made in the technology, treatment and study of deafness, we are just beginning to understand the broader implications, with respect to brain development, literacy and the very ideas surrounding the acquisition of language.

This is the world that Lydia Denworth became immersed in with her son Alex. She talks about that experience in I Can Hear You Whisper: An Intimate Journey through the Science of Sound and Language.

My conversation with Lydia Denworth:

The Uncensored History of the Food Network

If the past 30 years of television has been about anything, it’s been about specialization. While ESPN was the leader and Granddaddy of specialty television programming, you can now watch nothing but Sci Fi, or old movies, or cartoons, and of course food.

Food programming, like sports has had a cultural impact far beyond the screen. The Food Network, like ESPN, has both shaped our perceptions and married it with our culture in ways that gives us both celebrities and food. What better combination for 21st Century America.

Allen Salkin looks at his history in From Scratch: The Uncensored History of the Food Network

My conversation with Allen Salkin:

How many scandals can we understand at once?

If you’ve ever borrowed money for anything, from a mortgage to a student loan, you’ve been impacted by LIBOR. The London Interbank Offered Rate. The global standard for interest rates.

The problem is, like so many other recent aspects of our financial markets, we’ve now come to find that it’s been rigged. That a system built on trust, has been anything but trustworthy. That the gentlemanly system of the London bankers has joined the international movement toward greed, and dishonesty, at the expense of average citizens around the world.

This story has been reported extensively by financial reporter Erin Arvedlund. Now she pulls it all together in her new book Open Secret: The Global Banking Conspiracy That Swindled Investors Out of Billions.

My conversation with Erin Arvedlund:

Rules for Assassins

Throughout history, from Cesar thru Lincoln, from Archduke Ferdinand and Gandhi through the Kennedys and Malcolm X, a bullet has changed the world.

But what’s different when assassination is not a random deranged act, but an instrument of policy. First, it’s the stuff of movies. Think about it;  The Manchurian Candidate, Day of the Jackal, Executive Action, Parallax View, to name a few. Add to this list, Syriana, a story based on the life of former CIA operative Robert Baer.

Baer has now codified his unique line of work in The Perfect Kill: 21 Laws for Assassins

My conversation with Robert Baer:

Ratchets, Hatchets & Pivots

We are in the midst of a great migration to cities. The number of farms and people engaged in agriculture continues to decline. Yet human ingenuity has produced abundant resources of food, through innovation and technology.

Historically, when disaster has struck and we have been threatened as a species, we’ve always seemed to find a way out, particularly with respect to our food supply. This has resulted in increases in population, which then takes us to the next crises.

This cycle is replicated throughout history. It is what MacArthur fellow and Columbia Professor, Ruth DeFries calls a cycle of Ratchets, Hatchets and Pivots. She explains in her book The Big Ratchet: How Humanity Thrives in the Face of Natural Crisis.

My conversation with Ruth DeFries:

Why Motivating People Doesn't Work

Todays workplace bears very little resemblance to that of our parents. It’s multi generational nature, its focus on employee empowerment and its reflection of broader changes in society, education and culture, all create a perfect storm that requires whole new skill sets from today’s leaders.

These are the skills that Susan Fowler writes about in Why Motivating People Doesn't Work . . . and What Does: The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging

My conversation with Susan Fowler

Love, Sex and Popular Culture in 21st Century America

Back in the early 1960’s the world took note of the decadence of life in the Italian capital of Rome, in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Inspired by two major political/sex scandals of the era, the film, which would win the 1960 Palme d'or in Cannes, depicted a Rome that was ultra sophisticated, ultra modern and ultra decadent.

Fifty plus years later, Prof. Roger Friedland would decide to move to Rome with his wife and adolescent daughters, because he saw Rome as an antidote to America being awash in sexuality, modernity, sophistication and decadence. He writes about his experience in Amore: An American Father's Roman Holiday

How have the tables switched so dramatically, and what does it say about the state of love, sex and popular culture in the 21st century.

My conversation with Roger Friedland:

The making of Super Althletes

Almost no aspect of life has not been touched by the forward march of science and technology. The world of sports is no exception. When we watch a game, or even multiple games as in the Olympics, we want to see things we’ve never seen before.

The narrative of human performance drives our love of any sport. And today, science is glad to oblige. As we learn more about the brain, the body, genetics and biological evolution itself, scientists and engineers find news ways to enhance innate athletic ability.

It’s no accident that story abounded recently about how the newly minted World Champion SF Giants, had hired a sleep expert to advise them when it was best to travel.

So what’s going on now, and where will it all lead? That's what Wired editor Mark Mcclusky set out to discover in his new book Faster, Higher, Stronger: How Sports Science Is Creating a New Generation of Superathletes--and What We Can Learn from Them.

My conversation with Mark McClusky:

Just how absurd is life on the West Bank?

The Middle East is always ripe with stories. Unfortunately, few get to the heart of the absurdity of the human condition there. In much the way that Catch 22 or Mash did for our wartime military, The Hilltop, a new novel by esteemed Israeli writer Assaf Gavron does for the settlements on the West Bank.

My conversation with Assaf Gavron: