Talk Cocktail

How much time do we all spend trying be organized? The onslaught of information, the avalanche of apps, all making us both smarter and more stressed. Years ago Google set out, as it mission, to organize all of the information in the world. The man who helped lead that process for Google, as the Chief Information Officer, now turns his attention to personal organization. Douglas Merrill is a leading computer scientists, with a Ph.D in Cognitive Science from Princeton. He now gives us all some help in his book Getting Organized in the Google Era: How to Get Stuff out of Your Head, Find It When You Need It, and Get It Done Right.  My conversation with Douglas Merrill:

Few journalists have been as good at capturing the personalities and zeitgeist of their time as David Maraniss. A multiple Pulitzer Prize winner and award winning biographer of Bill Clinton, Vince Lombardi, and Roberto Clemente, he has also taken us to modern day Vietnam and to the 1960 Rome Olympics. His work focuses on those important moments in the human condition, when we reveal who we really are. His new book Into the Story: A Writer's Journey through Life, Politics, Sports and Loss, is a kind of sampler of his work that, taken together, accentuates his love of politics, sports and the importance of timeless narrative non-fiction.  My conversation with David Maraniss:

As we enter into the first arms reduction treaty in almost twenty years, it's worth remembering the doomsday scenario that was the Cold War arms race. This years Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction has been awarded to David Hoffman for his book The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy.  In it, he documents not only the Cold War arms race, but the residual impact and the weapons of mass destruction that still imperil the planet. My conversation with David Hoffman:

Through science, religion and art we have, for centuries, tried to make sense of the universe. In modern times, we've believed that science would answer the great cosmic questions. Relativity and Quantum Mechanics certainly seemed to lead us in that direction. But still physicists have been stymied in trying to find that elusive theory of everything. What if there is no such theory? What if the universe really is random and asymmetric? How does that alter our view of our place in that universe? These are the issues explored by physicist and Dartmouth professor Marcelo Gleiser in his book A Tear at the Edge of Creation: A Radical New Vision for Life in an Imperfect Universe.  My conversation with Marcelo Gleiser:

Jerry Weintraub has spent more than five decades in show business. As a promoter, manager, movie and Broadway producer, his success has been unparalleled and his judgement uncanny. With great success, show business autobiographies often come with their need to tell others how to succeed. Jerry Weintraub, in his new autobiography, When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man, tells us of the people that have taught him. If ever there were a primer on networking, the power of mentors and chutzpa, this is it.  My conversation with Jerry Weintraub:

Pressures to be productive, sixty to eighty hour work weeks as the norm, technology that tethers us to work 24/7; all of these things might make us long for a day of rest. Historically, the Sabbath provided that fulfillment. Often as a religious observance, but sometimes it was just simply a day of getting outside of ourselves and coming together as part of a community. This is the backdrop of a new memoir by Judith Shulevitz, The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time. Judith is a literary critic, a former New York Times and Slate columnist and her new book allows a different view of how we spend of leisure time. My conversation with Judith Shulevitz:

War always has unintended consequences. Since the days of the American invasion of Iraq, millions of Iraqis have fled their country. Mostly Sunni and mostly from Iraq's educated middle class, this has had a profound impact on the country and the region. It has given rise to a Sunni/Iraq Diaspora with the ability to either help stabilize or profoundly destabilize the Middle East. This is the backdrop for NPR correspondent Deborah Amos' new book Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East.  My conversation with Debora Amos:

One of the things often left out of our health care discussion is the simple human equation. Doctors, often young and often new to America, are the link, that translates between a complex web of technology and information and a receiving person often in physical or emotional distress. The business model of medicine must, if it is to succeed, bend in some fashion to the human model. No one understands this better than Abraham Verghese. A doctor, a Professor at Stanford, his books and essays have helped us navigate what it really means to be a doctor. His latest, his first novel Cutting for Stone, looks at how a sense of place also shapes the destiny of healing.  My conversation with Abraham Verghese:

As we face a world of increasing complexity and increasing problems, it seems to always fall to science to find the answers. However, science is only half the equation. Certainly to understand and deconstruct our world, is the job of science. However to take that science and create real, practical solutions for our future, is the job of engineering. If science is about ideas, engineering is about putting those ideas into action.  Henry Petroski, a Professor of Civil Engineering at Duke, and the author of The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems is the Carl Sagan of engineering. He explains how it is engineering that really will allow our reach to exceed our grasp. My conversation with Henry Petroski:

  In addition to the fall of Lehman and AIG, last year's financial crisis also saw the economies of entire nations collapse. Iceland, Greece and most notably Ireland have been economically devastated. In Ireland, the Celtic Tiger, once the home of an economic miracle, now will take decades and billions to recover. How did this happen? What role did Wall Street play and what role did the Irish government play in propping up one of the worlds great real estate bubbles and how did it precipitated the crisis? Ireland's premiere financial journalist, Fintan O'Toole, in his book Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger explains how Ireland manged to achieve such a spectacular implosion. It's a cautionary tale of corruption, carelessness, and venality. My conversation with Fintan O'Toole:

He was the architect of Bill Clinton's efforts to make small issues add up to what some called the "incredible shrinking Presidency."  He has been attacked by the left for being to pragmatic, by the right for being to partisan.  He and the President have diverged on what should be the goals, aspirations and limits of the administration.  Arguably, with so many enemies, on all sides, he must be doing something right?  Rahm Emanuel is perhaps the most powerful chief of staff since Jim Baker served George H.W. Bush.  Yet his future may rest completely on the results of health care legislation this week.  N.Y. Times White House correspondent Peter Baker takes an inside look at "The Limits of RAHMISM" in his N.Y. Times Magazine cover story.  My conversation with Peter Baker:

In the 1980's our debates about religion turned from intellectual exercises among some of the nations greatest thinkers and philosophers to shrill cultural diatribes disconnected from from thought and context. In many ways it was the precursor to our political and cultural debates today; empty,extreme and fundamental.Will we ever again find a middle ground, or has the echo chamber, as David Brooks so clearly points out in his column today, subsumed any reasonable chance to separate the sacred from the screed? Author and philosopher Sam Keen, in his new book, In the Absence of God: Dwelling in the Presence of the Sacred, examines the seemingly odd notion that religion, in its most traditional, non dogmatic form, may hold the secret to unite rather than divide us. My conversation with Sam Keen:

Terrorism, tsunamis, earthquakes, war, drought and the unpredictability of geopolitics.  How can we ever be fully prepared for events that go far beyond anything we might anticipate in the course of normal, day to day decisions?  The past decade, even the past few years, have demonstrated that not only do disasters happen with increasing regularity, they are happening more frequently in our hyperannuated world. Howard Kunreuther Professor of Decision Sciences and Public Policy at The Wharton School, has edited a volume entitled Learning from Catastrophes: Strategies for Reaction and Response. In it, some of the worlds leading experts in risk assessment and management, discuss how we can successfully navigate the hazards of the 21st century. My conversation with Howard Kunreuther:

Branding, design, style, new technologies and social media.  We tend to look at all of them in isolation.  Little do we realize sometimes that their is a very personal narrative that connects the things we buy, admire, use and connect with.  Each of us is a part of a story with hundreds of tellers that represents the story of our lives. Debbie Millman, a leader in the design and branding community, brings all of this together in her new work Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design.  My conversation with Debbie Millman:

Thirteen years ago the nation was transfixed by a political scandal that resulted in the impeachment of a President for only the second time in our history.  What started as a small tawdry story about a failed savings and loan in Arkansas, would ultimately consume a President, a nation and a public, hungry for gossip in a new internet age.  We became experts on a story with dozens of players who would become household names, yet would do little to advance the cause of either policy or democracy. Now, the full, untold story of the Bill Clinton vs. Ken Starr  battle of titans, is told in Duquesne University  law professor Ken Gormly's new book The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr. Written with access to virtually all of the "players" Gormley connects the dots to a story and a history we all lived but perhaps never fully understood. My conversation with Ken Gormley:

The growing divide between red and blue America is not just about politics.  It's far more than a debate about health care, the role of government or the war on terrorism.  It is a divide that goes to the very fabric of the American cultural experience.  It is so powerful precisely because it is the nucleus of the most intimate and private issues of the American family.  Is this gap bridgeable?  Can there ever be a common ground between blue, Starbucks America and Sara Palin's idea of America?These questions are asked by two distinguished law school professors, Naomi Cahn and June Carbone in their book Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture. My conversation with Cahn and Carbone:

With controversy over immigrants and immigration escalating, and the debate surrounding both the ability of undocumented immigrants to pursue the American dream of going to college and to access health care in this country, two recent books compassionate and intelligently tackle both of these issues. First, Dr. Danielle Ofri, in her book Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients tells us riveting stories about her immigrant patients at Bellevue. Living and dying in the foreign country we call home, they have much to teach us about the American way, in sickness and in health. Additionally, journalist Helen Thorpe in her book Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America gives us a powerful account of our young Mexican woman coming of age in Denver - two of whom have legal documents, and two whom do not. My conversations with Helen Thorpe and Danielle Ofri

Should college athletes be paid to play?  Are big name coaches worth the millions they receive?  And who really benefits from the astronomical media deals that schools sign?  From the insanity of recruiting to March Madness, sports have long been seen as a financial engine for many schools.  However today, in these times of austerity, how does this square with the roll and mission of our great universities?  Are sports more entertainment than education?  Veteran Wall Street Journal writer Mark Yost digs into these and other provocative questions in his new book Varsity Green: A Behind the Scenes Look at Culture and Corruption in College Athletics.  My conversation with Mark Yost:

As sports become more competitive, as we learn new ways to push the body to its dynamic limits, as faster, higher, stronger becomes a given, what will separate the good from the great.  Even in fighting, perhaps the ultimate physical endeavor, it's often more mental than physical.  Sam Sheridan, in his new book The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game looks inside the minds of fighters to give us a view of the mental game. My conversation with Sam Sheridan:

If there is a dysfunction symptomatic of our times, perhaps it is procrastination. It often separates those who succeed from those who don't.  It causes lose of productivity. It prevents so many from fully achieving what they are truly capable of.  Why is it so prevalent, how do psychiatrists see it, and why is it so hard to correct.  Dr. Jane Burka, a psychologist, has been looking at this problem for over twenty-five years.  Her book Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now, is just out in an updated 25th Anniversary Edition. My conversation with Dr. Jane Burka.

If we are to reignite the economy, bring back jobs and really recover from 2009, we're going to only do it based on the success of American business.  Concurrently, if American business is to succeed and prosper, it must fully embrace the idea of customer service.  Multi-million dollar Super bowl ads are nice, but for the same cost business should be focused on taking care of and solidifying the customers they already have. Joseph Jaffe understand this and he spells it out in his new book Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones.  My conversation with Joseph Jaffe:

Newspapers are closing, bureaus are shuttering, whole areas of state, local and federal government are operating with no press coverage. At the same time, corporate and political power is rising. Is democracy threatened? Did the founders intend for the media to have a more active role in balancing democratic forces? If so, it's another sign that our democracy may be in trouble. We are awash in formation, but as T.S. Elliot wrote,"where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" Journalism professor Robert W. McChesney, in his new book The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again argues that our journalism is in more trouble than many believe and the the internet and technology alone may not be the answer.  My conversation with Robert McChesney:

Roads are the infrastructure by which advanced civilizations have always been able to connect with each other.  From the ancient spice routes to the interstate highway system, roads have symbolized progress and have been the backbone of our economy.  Today, it is no accident that the information superhighway is the metaphor for a whole new way of connecting.  In his new work The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today, Ted Conover takes a look at how roads work, for good and ill, and what their future likely holds.   My conversation with Ted Conover:

Unlike much of the west,  America's population is certainly growing.  But will the demographic makeup of this growth be good for America?  Social thinker Joel Kotkin thinks so.  In his new book The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050 he says that in 40 years even more Americans will move to new suburbs and will be less reliant on cities. His arguments run counter to the views of the New Urbanists and people like Richard Florida.  Is Kotkin's vision really a view of the continued Walmartiation of America?

My conversation with Joel Kotkin:

Washington Post special military correspondent, and Pulitzer Prizer winner Thomas Ricks predicts that the war in Iraq is likely to last at least another five to ten years.  He argues that invading Iraq was perhaps the worst decision in the history of American foreign policy.  As such, we've made a mess that won't be easy to clean up and that this preemptive and false war will continue to haunt us.  Iraq was an epic mistake for which there are now few good solutions.  He concludes that the worst may still be ahead of us.  His book The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq is put just out in paperback.

My conversation with Thomas Ricks:

While executions in the U.S. are considered public policy, they are carried out in private;  often far, far away from public scrutiny.  In Texas, the execution capital of America, they happen with barely a mention.  Yet, at least outside of Texas, the tide may be turning against state sponsored murder.  David R. Dow, the litigation director of the Texas Defender Service and a Professor at the University of Houston Law Center, in his new book The Autobiography of an Execution gives us an up close and personal look inside the death penalty.   My conversation with David Dow:

We live in a world of ever increasing complexity.  Our economy, our social networks, the very fabric of our lives seem at times random and unfathomable. Yet if we look carefully we find that complex behaviors can often be defined by simple rules. If we understand this truth, perhaps we can better manage the chaos around us. Patterns of "self organization" are everywhere. And if we understand these patterns, physicist and science writer Dr. Len Fisher explains in his new book The Perfect Swarm: The Science of Complexity in Everyday Life, we will understand the ideas of complexity theory that he believe underpins some of the most confounding mysteries in life and provides simples answers to why they occur.  My conversation with Dr. Len Fisher:

Whether we are discussing the war on terrorism, the onslaught of modern technology, or the rightward shift of the Supreme Court, we continue see within them the erosion of the right to privacy in America.  Thought history, it seems that it's the one right we've always been willing to cede for what we often mistakenly perceive as the great good.  Journalist and attorney Frederick Lane, in his new book American Privacy: The 400-Year History of Our Most Contested Right, explains that "the history of America is the history of the right to privacy." Yet Lane explains that the right to privacy has never kept pace with technological and social change. My conversation with Fredrick Lane:

While the Bush Administration focused almost entirely on Iraq, the world moved on.  Places and situations that were dangerous because more dangerous.  By the time Obama came into office he inherited a nation engaged in two wars, a rising China, a more intractable Israeli government and an Iran torn by internal strife. And that's just for starters.  This is the backdrop for N.Y. Times chief Washington correspondent David E. Sanger's book The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power. It's just come out in paperback with a new and updated epilogue by the author. My conversation with David Sanger:

What happens in our brain when we try to make decisions? Why is decision making effortless for some and others struggle just to decide what to eat for breakfast?  In his book How We Decide, the brilliant writer and blogger Jonah Lehrer explains that our best decisions don't involve a choice between reason and emotion, but are in fact the perfect blend of both. My conversation with Jonah Lehrer:

The health care debate is but one example of the difficulty of enacting any kind of social or political change.  The Supreme Court saw to it last week that corporate money will continue to define our political agenda.  The only good news was that the outpouring of support and relief for Haiti still shows a deep well of human compassion, in spite of a year in which Ayn Rand was resurrected and selfishness was once again put up as a virtue.  With the institutions of democracy broken, globalization increasing, climate change continuing and increasing energy demands, it seems we need to find whole new ways of addressing critical problems.  Author, scholar and public intellectual Jeremy Rifkin, in his new book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis contends that we are at a seminal turning point in human history and that the coming decades could well determine our future survival on this planet.  My conversation with Jeremy Rifkin:

Of the twenty most costly catastrophes since 1970, more than half have occurred since 2001.  Is the world simply going to fast and is the rapidity of events the reason for bad decisions?  We live in a time when we have more information when we make decisions. Neuroscience and brain research have given us powerful new tools to help us decide.  The pain of the past eighteen months is said to have given us a kind of reset, to allow us to take more reasoned actions.  Does any of this matter?  Or is there something at the intersection of economics, psychology, public policy and finance that is simply dysfunctional?  Thirty top scholars, innovators and Nobel laureates takes on these issues in a The Irrational Economist: Making Decisions in a Dangerous World edited by Wharton Risk Center Managing Director Erwann Michel-Kerjan.  My conversation with Erwann Michel-Kerjan:

Just as American culture is homogenizing the world, with respect to everything from movies to junk food, so to is it globalizing the human mind itself. In his new book Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, science writer Ethan Watters shows that we are not only changing the way the world understands and treats mental illness, but that we are actually trying to redefine the symptoms of others to fit into our own pharmacologically driven solutions.  Good for big pharma, bad for diversity and human compassion. My conversation with Ethan Watters:

The outpouring of aid and support for Haiti has been overwhelming.  It should make us wonder if we are somehow hardwired to be compassionate, empathic and altruistic.  Over the past year, amidst the financial crisis, the ideas of Ayn Rand and the supposed virtues of selfishness have gained new converts.  Yet more and more science tells us that compassion, far from being weak, is the very quality that has enabled the successful evolution of our species and will ultimately determine our fate. The Greater Good Science Center, led by renown psychologist Dacher Keltner and based at UC Berkley, has been in the vanguard of this movement. The Center has, for the first time, published its writings in a new book entitled The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness.  My conversation with Dacher Keltner:

In the entire history of the U.S., only forty-four men have known exactly what it feels like to have the full weight of the nations security on their shoulders. Even fewer have assumed that mantel in a time of war. As Barack Obama took office, the terrorist threat swirled around him. A year later, the failed Christmas day attack refocused Obama and the country on the threat of domestic terrorism.  Suddenly it wasn't just policy papers or briefings, but lives hung in the balance. N.Y. Times White House correspondent Peter Baker writes about this as the cover story in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine.  My conversation with Peter Baker:

Texting, twittering, email, all have replaced true conversation. Pharmaceuticals have replaced talk therapy, shouting has replaced dialogue in our political discourse and snarkiness has replaced analysis and discussion.  In virtually every area of our culture conversation is under siege.  What is the price we're paying for this shorting of attention span, for the loss of the true exchange of personal narrative? Do we even still know how to converse? Have we lost the art of conversation? Daniel Menaker's book A Good Talk: The Story and Skill of Conversation gives us cause to worry, but some hope. My conversation with Daniel Menaker:

In an economy with over ten percent of the population is unemployed, it might be easier if people pursued any job. Ken Robinson points out that this is but a short term solution to the individual and to the economy.  In his new book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, Robinson explains that it is only by pursuing that which we are passionate about, that we can really change and reshape the fundamentals of work, employment and education in the twenty-first century and truly reap the rewards of building our economy on true human potential. My conversation with Sir Ken Robinson: