Episodes
Thursday Apr 28, 2011
A World Where Girls Are Not for Sale
Thursday Apr 28, 2011
Thursday Apr 28, 2011
Monday Apr 25, 2011
The Evolution of Political Order
Monday Apr 25, 2011
Monday Apr 25, 2011
Why is it, that history always seems to repeat itself? While societies are varied and develop in many different ways, there indeed seems to be certain recurring patterns of behavior across time and across cultures. Esteemed political scientist Dr. Francis Fukuyama, in his seminal new work The Origins of Political Order, argues that because of our shared biological foundation, much our our human nature is in fact hardwired, including our propensity to favor relatives, appreciate altruism and a built in tendency to follow rules, to launch warfare and to organize for better societal outcomes. How all of this plays out is the difference between Somalia and America. My conversation with Francis Fukuyama:
Sunday Apr 24, 2011
Physics of the Future
Sunday Apr 24, 2011
Sunday Apr 24, 2011
Most of us remember growing up and hearing about a world of flying cars, domed living, wrist radios and robots that would take care of our every need. Whether it was the sleek world of the Jetsons, the dark world of Brazil or Bladerunner or the sci fi paranoia of the cold war, we have always been fascinated by what the future might look like. That future may not be here in its entirety, yet, the technology of today may indeed lead to the brave new world of tomorrow. Certainly we’d like to think that technology can give us more than social networking and computerized medical records. World renowned professor of theoretical physics Michio Kaku, uses the cutting edge of science and technology to paint a picture of exactly what he thinks our future, or at least our grand kids future will look like. Kaku's Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 is Future Shock meets Star Trek My conversation with Michio Kaku:
Sunday Apr 24, 2011
How Science will Shape Human Destiny
Sunday Apr 24, 2011
Sunday Apr 24, 2011
Most of us remember growing up and hearing about a world of flying cars, domed living, wrist radios and robots that would take care of our every need. Whether it was the sleek world of the Jetsons, the dark world of Brazil or Bladerunner or the sci fi paranoia of the cold war, we have always been fascinated by what the future might look like. That future may not be here in its entirety, yet, the technology of today may indeed lead to the brave new world of tomorrow. Certainly we’d like to think that technology can give us more than social networking and computerized medical records. World renowned professor of theoretical physics Michio Kaku, uses the cutting edge of science and technology to paint a picture of exactly what he thinks our future, or at least our grand kids future will look like. Kaku's Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 is Future Shock meets Star Trek My conversation with Michio Kaku:
Friday Apr 22, 2011
Green: Then & Now
Friday Apr 22, 2011
Friday Apr 22, 2011
We are reminded on this Earth Day that few issues we face are as pressing and our changing environment and our sources and uses of energy. But what we may not know, is that behind all of our current efforts to reduce our impact on the planet, there is a 150 year history of green innovation and progress that is overlooked and has hit so many roadblocks along the way. Alexis Madrigal, senior editor and technology reporter for TheAtlantic.com gives us some history and perspective in Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology My conversation with Alexis Madrigal:
Thursday Apr 21, 2011
LA & SF in the 1030s
Thursday Apr 21, 2011
Thursday Apr 21, 2011
Wednesday Apr 20, 2011
Understanding the Congo
Wednesday Apr 20, 2011
Wednesday Apr 20, 2011
Tuesday Apr 19, 2011
Pakistan
Tuesday Apr 19, 2011
Tuesday Apr 19, 2011
While we continue to be at war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, it is arguably Pakistan that will shape the future of US success or failure in the region. If Islamic terror is to be unleashed, it will probably come from the mountains of Pakistan. On the other hand, if we are to have success in forestalling terrorism against the West, again Pakistan will be the reason. A nation both regressive and stable, deeply divided and yet somewhat functional because of those divisions, Pakistan is a country of immense size and even larger contradictions. Few understand Pakistan as well as Anatol Lieven. His new work Pakistan: A Hard Country, is a must read for anyone who truly wants to understand this most important part of the world. My conversation with Anatol Lieven:
Monday Apr 18, 2011
A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea
Monday Apr 18, 2011
Monday Apr 18, 2011
Thursday Apr 14, 2011
The Bond
Thursday Apr 14, 2011
Thursday Apr 14, 2011
Like so many other things in our society, our relationship to animals sends tenuous and very contradictory messages. On the one hand we spend literally billions of dollars on our pets. We have a deep kinship with those animals. Yet in a larger sense, with respect to our food, our habitat and our public policy, we suddenly loose sight of that bond. How is that possible? How can we seemingly have it both ways? Wayne Pacelle has spent seventeen years with The Humane Society of the US, and the past seven as its President and CEO. He understands the effort it has taken to build the nation's largest animal protection voice. He lays it all out in his book The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them. My conversation with Wayne Pacelle:
Wednesday Apr 13, 2011
Who knows?
Wednesday Apr 13, 2011
Wednesday Apr 13, 2011
We live in an age of extremism. Our politics is stained by the polarization of left and right. Even our entertainment, leisure and shopping is often shaped by the red state and blue state divide. Underlining all of this is not just our politics, but the culture wars that revolve around fundamental religious belief. In fact, nothing has become more extreme and more polarized then religion itself. But is there an alternative to religious extremism? As we seek middle ground in our politics, driven by good will and good intentions, can we in fact find a middle ground between the extreme views of fundamentalism and atheism? Famed prosecutor Vince Bugliosi thinks so. In fact he thinks that agnosticism is not only that middle ground, but that its the real position of morality and faith. With the same verve with which he prosecuted Charles Manson, examined the Kennedy assassination and successfully prosecuted 105 criminal jury trials in the L.A. District Attorney's office, he now takes on the religious extremists (Divinity of Doubt: The God Question)who, as they have in the past, threaten to take down civilization itself. My conversation with Vince Bugliosi:
Tuesday Apr 12, 2011
Crazy U?
Tuesday Apr 12, 2011
Tuesday Apr 12, 2011
For many of us, the second biggest expense we will ever make, after a home purchase, is our kids college education. A four year education at a private or even a State University, can cost well over $160,000. For the first time in this country student debt has outpaced credit card debt. Lately much has been written about the cost benefit analysis of that education. We know that among the college educated unemployment has only been around 5% compared with the non college educated at well over 10%. Yet many question not only the value of that education, but most of all the processes that has become both an American ritual, and a right of passage for both kids and parents; a process that Andrew Ferguson says can make us a little bit crazy. Ferguson is a senior editor at the Weekly Standard, and the author of Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College. My conversation with Andrew Ferguson:
Friday Apr 08, 2011
Give Smart
Friday Apr 08, 2011
Friday Apr 08, 2011
Thursday Apr 07, 2011
Rawhide Down
Thursday Apr 07, 2011
Thursday Apr 07, 2011
Wednesday Apr 06, 2011
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio
Wednesday Apr 06, 2011
Wednesday Apr 06, 2011
Tuesday Apr 05, 2011
The Art and Science of Memory
Tuesday Apr 05, 2011
Tuesday Apr 05, 2011
Who are we but the sum total of all that we remember? What if we had total control over what we choose to remember? Imagine if there was a kind of valve to control memory? How much of what we think we have forgotten is still lodged permanently within our memory? Would more control of our memory allow us to alter our personality or even how we see the world around us? Certainly it would help us remember names at cocktails parties and help us to find our car in the parking garage, but what other impact might it have. These issues of memory are dealt with in a bestselling new book by Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. My conversation with Joshua Foer:
Thursday Mar 31, 2011
Cleared for Takeoff
Thursday Mar 31, 2011
Thursday Mar 31, 2011
Most of us have grown up thinking that Airports are at best a nuisance. Living near an Airport has been seen as negative, and we've consistently built our Airports far outside urban area. But much as we used to build sports stadiums away from downtown and have now reversed that trend, to add vibrancy to our cities, so too are Airports becoming important economic hubs which, in much of the world, have spawned whole cities around them. Just as ports, harbors and rail stations used to be the central focus of our cites, today new cites will be build with the Airport as their focus. Journalist Greg Lindsay, along with John Kasarda explain it all and talk about the concept of Aerotropolis. My conversation with Greg Lindsay:
Thursday Mar 31, 2011
The End of Wall Street
Thursday Mar 31, 2011
Thursday Mar 31, 2011
Almost three years after the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, many people still are asking how did it happen, why did it happen and could it happen again? Also, as was asked at this year's Academy Awards, why has no one payed any kind of a price for such irresponsible and some would say corrupt, Wall Street behavior? Few understand all of this better then Roger Lowenstein. He is one of our nation's most prominent financial journalists and his book The End of Wall Streetis just out in paperback. Today, with the benefit of some hindsight and distance he gives us some clear explanations. My conversation with Roger Lowenstein: