Our special guest is Mr. Nick Taylor, the author of American-Made, The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR put the Nation to Work.

Download | Duration: 00:52:44

Nick Taylor has written ten books of non-fiction, both solely and in collaboration, on a wide variety of subjects.  His history of the Works Progress Administration, was published last February to wide acclaim.

Taylor’s other subjects include tournament bass fishing, the Mafia, and life in a small church. His memoir, A Necessary End recounts a baby boomer’s growing concern and care for his parents in their final years.  His story of an intrepid Israeli’s journey into the German neo-Nazi underground, In Hitler’s Shadow, written with Yaron Svoray, was adapted as the HBO feature movie, The Infiltrator, starring Oliver Platt.  His account of a Mafia family in the government’s Witness Protection Program, Sins of the Father, is currently under a motion picture option.  Laser, published in 2000, tells the story of the laser’s true inventor and his thirty-year fight to win the patents that would make him rich.  And he worked with astronaut and Senator John Glenn on the bestselling, John Glenn: A Memoir.
 
His pro bono work includes four years as president of the Authors Guild, the oldest and largest organization of published writers in the United States, which advocates for authors’ rights.  He is a native of western North Carolina who today lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Barbara Nevins Taylor, who is an investigative reporter for Fox TV’s New York stations Fox 5 and My 9 News.

Mr. Taylor will address some of the following questions:
• Who was Harry Hopkins and how did he get to run the WPA?
• What role did the WPA play in preparing us for WWII?
• Why was the WPA so criticized and by whom?
• Where was the work of the WPA concentrated?

Our special guest is Mr. Richard Blassberg, the author of “The Jeanine Machine,” an expose of former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro.  He is also the Editor-In-Chief of the hard-hitting local newspaper the, The Westchester Guardian.  He was born and raised in the 41st Precinct, "Fort Apache" the Bronx, Richard holds a degree in psychology from Adelphi College, and a law degree from Pace University School of law. A former Youth Board Worker for the City of New York, and Probation Officer for the County of Westchester, he has worked for nearly three decades with formerly homeless, and disadvantaged individuals.

Download | Duration: 00:52:22

The subject of “The Advocates” will be “Freedom of the Press,” and how he sees the small newspaper’s role in the following:

1) Corruption in the courts and the justice system
2) Justice for the oppressed and forgotten
3) The growth of layered, duplicative government, and is it out of hand
4) The game of incestuous politics: elected officials, the courts and law enforcement

Our special guest is Mr. Richard Jackson, the author of The Graying of the Great Powers: Demography and Geopolitics in the 21st Century. Our program will explore what Richard Jackson has written, “The world is entering a demographic transformation of unprecedented dimensions… therefore the coming transformation is both certain and lasting. There is almost no chance that it will not happen --- or that it will be reversed in our lifetime.” In fact, Mr. Jackson warns, “In the developing world, the transformation will give rise to dangerous new security threats!”

Download | Duration: 00:51:39

Mr. Richard Jackson, Ph.D. is a Senior Fellow & Program Director, of The Global Aging Initiative, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1800 K. Street, NW, suite 400, Washington, DC 20006. This research program explores the economic, social and geopolitical implication of the aging of the population of America and around the world. He is also an Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson Institute and a Senior Advisor to the Concord Coalition. Mr. Jackson is the author of numerous policy studies, including, “The Aging of Korea,” “Long-term Immigration Projection Methods:  Current Practice and How to Improve It,” “Building Human Capital in an Aging Mexico,” and “The Graying of the Middle Kingdom.” In 1994, he served as a Blackstone Group Chairman Peter G. Petersen’s liaison to the Kerrey-Danforth Commission on Entitlement and Tax reform.  Mr. Jackson was awarded his Ph. D. in economic history from Yale University and currently lives in Alexandria with his wife Perine and his children.

Our special guests are the honorable Paul Feiner, The Town Supervisor of Greenburgh, NY and Ms. Joan Gronowski, a Member of the City Council of Yonkers, NY. Our subject today is, “Is the Size and Scope of County Government Out of Control, and What Can Be Done?”

Download | Duration: 00:51:54

Mr. Feiner was a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude at Fordham University and a 1981 graduate of St. John's Law School, Mr. Feiner immediately put his academic skills to good use. He led the campaign to open committee meetings of the Westchester County Board of Legislators to the public. This successful effort prompted Common Cause to name Mr. Feiner one of six national recipients of the Common Cause Public Service Achievement Award in 1982. His award cited Mr. Feiner's "force of imagination, initiative and perseverance that have made an outstanding contribution to the public interest in the areas of government performance and integrity."

Joan Gronowski is a lifelong Yonkers resident, born and raised on Hawthorne Avenue. She has lived in the Yonkers 3rd district for most of her life.  Joan attended St. Mary’s Parochial School and Blessed Sacrament Academy High School, beginning her employment with the City of Yonkers shortly thereafter.
Joan is a retired City of Yonkers employee and former member of the Service Employees’ International Union Local 704, having served as the Union’s Recording Secretary for ten years. Joan worked for many years in the city’s Office of Consumer Protection, corresponding with the private sector as a liaison to resolve constituent complaints and inquiries. During the latter years of her employment, Joan became actively involved in the political process, hoping to bring about more accountability in our public officials. She became a first-time candidate herself, and in November 2007, was elected to the Yonkers City Council representing the Third District.

Ms. Grace Chang is the author of the new children's book Jin Jin the Dragon, on today's China. It presents a colorful world that is both exotic and lush. It is an overview of Chinese characters and especially the Chinese Dragon.  Ms Chang will discuss the meaning of her book, the significance of the “Dragon” in Chinese folklore and mythology, reflect on the coming Olympic Games and tell us about her life growing up in Beijing near “The Forbidden City.”

Download | Duration: 00:51:19

Ms. Grace Chang is from a family of famous Chinese entertainers. She learned magic tricks in the courtyards of the Forbidden City, which was the home of the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty, in the 1400’s to the end of the Qing Dynasty between 1912 and 1924. The last imperial monarch Puyi was removed finally from his residence in 1924. After the invasion of China, in the 1930’s, the Japanese enthroned “Henry” Puyi as the puppet head of its Manchurian colony, known then as Manchukuo. 

Ms. Chang entered into the world of entertainment through the influence of her father who was a radio and stage personality. Ms. Chang was an illusionist and ringmaster, who created, performed and directed her own shows in a nationally acclaimed circus. Today she lives in Brooklyn with her family and has devoted many years to helping American families adopt thousands of Chinese children.

 

Our special guests are Ms. Allegra Dengler, who is in the studio, and Mr. Ken Brooks, who is reporting from the Brookings Institute in Washington DC, and their Conference on Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles.  Today’s topic of course deals with energy, alternate fuels and ways to conserve our conventional usage of fossil fuel.

Download | Duration: 00:50:53

Allegra Dengler was a former Dobbs Ferry Village Trustee, is a member of the Sierra Club, serves on the New York Democratic Lawyer’s Council HAVA Committee (Help America Vote Act), and is a member of the Progressive Democrats of America Election Protection Working Group.  She was a candidate for the Greenburgh Town Board in 2005 and narrowly lost election for Mayor of Dobbs Ferry.  She is constantly working, along with the League of Women Voters, and other groups, to insure that New Yorkers have the proper paper ballots when the current lever machines are replaced under our new law.  Ms. Dengler, who has been an active watchdog regarding the Hudson River and Indian Point, is currently the new coordinator of the Greenburgh Office of Energy Conservation.

Kenneth R. Brooks founded Go-Eco in October of 2007. Ken also serves as the managing partner of the highly successful branded-entertainment agency, CAE (Creative Artist Enterprises Group). Under his leadership, CAE has helped some of America’s most notable brands, including Pepsi, RJR, Sirius, GM, Pennzoil Quaker-State, Greyhound, McDonald’s and others, establish mutually beneficial relationships with celebrities, from the world of television, film and music.

Our special guest is Mr. William J. Bernstein, who was raised in Mount Vernon, NY and is currently retired in the State of Florida. Mr. Bernstein was educated in the Mount Vernon School system, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University with a major in history. He is a graduate of the prestigious New York University School of Law. During his long career he has been employed by the National Labor Relations Board, the New York City Office of Collective Bargaining, New York University and the Coca Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia. He has served on the following boards: The Georgia Business Forum, The Atlanta Region of the Red Cross Blood Services, and the New York University Law School Industrial Relations Council. He has also represented United States employers at the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD). This group promotes international standards for employment.

Download | Duration: 01:00:18

We continue our discussion this week, on “Conservatism in America, What Does it Really Stand For?” In the recent New Yorker magazine, Mr. George Packer has written a provocative article, “The Fall of Conservatism, Have the Republicans Run out of Ideas?” Mr. William J. Bernstein will participate in Chapter 2 of this discussion about conservatism and its future.

Our special guest is Mr. Michael Shapiro, a long-time Scarsdale resident and noted criminal defense lawyer. Mr. Shapiro, who was raised in the Bronx, and was educated at the City College of New York, where he received a Bachelor of Arts cum laude, later earned his JD from New York University. He is currently a faculty member of the Cardozo Law School’s Intensive Advocacy Program and has been a frequent guest panelist at the Harvard Law School. Michael started his legal career as a prosecutor, serving as a special assistant attorney general in the then newly established NY State Office of the Special Prosecutor for Nursing Homes, Health and Social services. He is now a partner with the prestigious Wall Street, New York law firm, Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, which was established in 1854. As a testament to his career, and reflective of his interested in individual liberty, he was just elected to New York’s most exclusive criminal defense group, the NY Council of Defense Lawyers, an elite organization that promotes the protection of individual rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution through education and advocacy.

Download | Duration: 00:51:31

Today’ program will focus on “Conservatism in America, What Does it Really Stand For?” In the recent New Yorker magazine, Mr. George Packer has written  a provocative article, “The Fall of Conservatism, Have the Republicans Run out of Ideas?” Mr. Shapiro and I will explore the philosophical issues of the “right” and see if they are relevant today.

Our special guest today is Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D.) is a literary activist who is concerned and involved with TAN, the Technical Advisory Network of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or the Burmese Government in Exile, located in Rockville, Md. 

Download | Duration: 00:55:11

Ms. Kaung was born in Burma during WWII and the Japanese occupation, and left there as a child to the United Kingdom, she traveled back to Burma in 1982 and eventually settled in the United States. She was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Pennsylvania where she earned an M.A. and Ph.D. She later won awards from The Academy of American Poets and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.  She has been a Pew finalist twice for her dramatic (her play “Shaman” was praised by Edward Albee) and poetic work, and is the author of two poetry chapbooks. For the last decade she has worked for the Burmese democracy movement.  She is currently a Senior Researcher with the Vahu Development Institute of Maryland. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the “Pathologies of Tyrannies, as it related to Burma.”

We also have a special call-in guest, Ms. Maureen Aung-Thwin, from the Burma Relief Project funded by The George Soros Foundation. Ms. Aung-Thwin is the Director of the Burma Project/SE Asia Initiative for the Open Society Institution, and is on the Advisory Board of the Human Rights Watch.

photograph of Ms. Kaung taken by Linda Fay Cook at Women's National Democratic Club.

Our special guest today is Dr. W. L. (Tony) Sawyer, the Superintendent of the Mount Vernon Public Schools. For more than 30 years Dr.  W. L. (Tony) Sawyer has served urban education in the following capacities: a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, a deputy superintendent, a superintendent of Manhattan High Schools, in New York City, Superintendent of the Topeka Public Schools, USD 501 and currently serves as Superintendent of the Mount Vernon City School District.

Download | Duration: 00:53:24

Dr. Sawyer has established a positive reputation for working effectively with all members of the learning community and has received numerous awards and honors. Dr. Sawyer is noted for the establishment and design of smaller learning communities, which have led to greater academic success for students who, in larger organizations, sometimes fall between the cracks.

Sawyer understands the importance of ensuring that all principals are first and foremost instructional leaders.   It is his contention that every effort must be made to ensure that all children are appropriately served in every classroom.  This means establishing what he refers to as a “flexible delivery system” which focuses on addressing student needs based on their individual learning styles.  In his words, “An effective school is knowledgeable of the strategies necessary to meet the needs of a diverse learning community.” 

At the core of everything he stands for is his commitment to children. Dr. Sawyer has dedicated his life to ensuring that children are prepared academically and emotionally with the critical skills required for a lifetime of success.

Today’s program will focus on “Mount Vernon at an Educational Crossroads, Can We Afford the Future?” He will try to answer the question, Can the urban schools of Westchester compete with their neighbors, and close the learning gap?