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"President Kennedy and Public Policy" with Professor Garrison Nelson
My guest is Professor Garrison Nelson, and our subject, on this week of the 48th anniversary of his death, and in the year of the 50th anniversary of his inauguration, is the public policy legacy of John F. Kennedy.
Professor Nelson teaches courses in American government, political leader-ship and political parties. He is the author of more than one hundred articles and professional papers on the U.S. Congress and elections in Vermont and is a regular media commentator on those topics. He is co-author of The Austin-Boston Connection: Five Decades of House Democratic Leadership, 1937-1989 (Texas A+M University, 2009). Editor-in-Chief of the two-volume work, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947-1992 (CQ Press, 1993-94); co-editor of the four-volume work, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789- 1946 (CQ Press, 2002), named a “Best Reference Source” by the Library Journal; co-editor of Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1993-2010 (Sage/CQ Press, 2010). Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of the American Legislative System (Scribner’s, 1994). Contributor to the Encyclopedia of American Political History (Scribner’s, 1984); ); The Committee on Ways and Means: A Bicentennial History, 1789-1989 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989); Political Parties and Elections in the United States: An Encyclopedia (Garland, 1991); Encyclopedia of the U.S. Congress (Simon & Schuster, 1995); Encyclopedia of New England (Yale University Press,2005); Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections (Facts on File, 2006); and Political Encyclopedia of U.S. States and Regions (Sage/CQ Press, 2009) . Published in the American Political Science Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, the New York Times, Boston Globe, Roll Call, and the Washington Post. Recipient of the Kroepsch-Maurice Teaching Excellence Award, 2009. President of the New England Political Science Association (1991-92) and President (1995-96) and Executive Director (1997-2000) of the Northeastern Political Science Association. Garrison Nelson Professor received is AB from Boston University and his MA and Ph D from the University of Iowa.
Professor Nelson teaches courses in American government, political leader-ship and political parties. He is the author of more than one hundred articles and professional papers on the U.S. Congress and elections in Vermont and is a regular media commentator on those topics. He is co-author of The Austin-Boston Connection: Five Decades of House Democratic Leadership, 1937-1989 (Texas A+M University, 2009). Editor-in-Chief of the two-volume work, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947-1992 (CQ Press, 1993-94); co-editor of the four-volume work, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789- 1946 (CQ Press, 2002), named a “Best Reference Source” by the Library Journal; co-editor of Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1993-2010 (Sage/CQ Press, 2010). Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of the American Legislative System (Scribner’s, 1994). Contributor to the Encyclopedia of American Political History (Scribner’s, 1984); ); The Committee on Ways and Means: A Bicentennial History, 1789-1989 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989); Political Parties and Elections in the United States: An Encyclopedia (Garland, 1991); Encyclopedia of the U.S. Congress (Simon & Schuster, 1995); Encyclopedia of New England (Yale University Press,2005); Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections (Facts on File, 2006); and Political Encyclopedia of U.S. States and Regions (Sage/CQ Press, 2009) . Published in the American Political Science Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, the New York Times, Boston Globe, Roll Call, and the Washington Post. Recipient of the Kroepsch-Maurice Teaching Excellence Award, 2009. President of the New England Political Science Association (1991-92) and President (1995-96) and Executive Director (1997-2000) of the Northeastern Political Science Association. Garrison Nelson Professor received is AB from Boston University and his MA and Ph D from the University of Iowa.
Download | Duration: 00:43:04
"Intrigue, Anxiety, Espionage and Resistance in Europe During WWII" with Alan Furst
My guest is author Alan Furst and our discussion is about his writings that take place in Europe during the period right before WWII along with the early years of its conflict, regarding the average European, who is caught up in the intrigue and resistance.
Alan Furst was born and raised in Manhattan. He lived in the South of France—as a Fulbright Teaching fellow at the Faculte des Lettres at the University of Montpellier, then in Seattle, where he worked for the City of Seattle Arts Commission.
He wrote for magazines—travel pieces and book reviews for Esquire, and wrote and published four novels. Returning to France, he lived in Paris, wrote a weekly column for The International Herald Tribune, and wrote his first historical espionage novel, Night Soldiers (Houghton Mifflin, 1988). This was followed by Dark Star (Houghton Mifflin,1991), The Polish Officer (Random House, 1995), The World at Night (Random House, 1996), Red Gold (Random House, 1999), Kingdom of Shadows (Random House, 2000), Blood of Victory (Random House, 2002), Dark Voyage (Random House 2004), The Foreign Correspondent (Random House 2006), The Spies of Warsaw (Random House 2008) and Spies of the Balkans (random House 2010.)
All the above titles are available from Random House Trade Paperbacks, and in the United Kingdom from Orion Books. His novels have been translated into seventeen languages. In 2002, Alan Furst was featured in an advertisement for Absolut vodka, for which he wrote the copy, in the style of his novels. Furst received a B.A. from Oberlin College in 1962 and an M.A. from Penn State in 1967.
Alan Furst was born and raised in Manhattan. He lived in the South of France—as a Fulbright Teaching fellow at the Faculte des Lettres at the University of Montpellier, then in Seattle, where he worked for the City of Seattle Arts Commission.
He wrote for magazines—travel pieces and book reviews for Esquire, and wrote and published four novels. Returning to France, he lived in Paris, wrote a weekly column for The International Herald Tribune, and wrote his first historical espionage novel, Night Soldiers (Houghton Mifflin, 1988). This was followed by Dark Star (Houghton Mifflin,1991), The Polish Officer (Random House, 1995), The World at Night (Random House, 1996), Red Gold (Random House, 1999), Kingdom of Shadows (Random House, 2000), Blood of Victory (Random House, 2002), Dark Voyage (Random House 2004), The Foreign Correspondent (Random House 2006), The Spies of Warsaw (Random House 2008) and Spies of the Balkans (random House 2010.)
All the above titles are available from Random House Trade Paperbacks, and in the United Kingdom from Orion Books. His novels have been translated into seventeen languages. In 2002, Alan Furst was featured in an advertisement for Absolut vodka, for which he wrote the copy, in the style of his novels. Furst received a B.A. from Oberlin College in 1962 and an M.A. from Penn State in 1967.
Download | Duration: 00:51:16
"Presidents and their First Ladies, As Teachers and Students," with Professor James M. Longo
My guest is Professor James M. Longo of Washington and Jefferson College, author of From Classroom to White House: Presidents and First Ladies as Students and Teachers, which compares and contrasts the educational opportunities and experiences of male and female residents of the White House.
Professor Jim Longo grew up and attended schools in St. Louis, Missouri. He was an award winning public school teacher for over a decade where he taught students from early elementary school through high school. He has a degree in History from the University of Missouri in St. Louis and has his doctorate in Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning from Harvard University. It was while he was at Harvard that he began having lunch with the former U.S. Commissioner of Education in the Kennedy-Johnson Administration. Over lunch he heard many stories about how being a teacher influenced Lyndon Johnson as a president and the role of Lady Bird Johnson in creating and supporting the Head Start program. Those stories inspired him to research other stories of presidents and first ladies as teachers. He discovered that half the presidents and first ladies have taught. But he also found stories about them as students that were funny, scary, sad, and inspiring. He realized that if by some magic time machine all the presidents and first ladies could return as children and be placed in a classroom together – they would be a teacher’s worse nightmare. These stories form the basis for his new book – FROM CLASSROOM TO WHITE HOUSE: Presidents and First Ladies as Students and Teachers.
He has shared these stories as lectures and in classrooms throughout the United States and in Austria, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, England, and the Czech Republic. Professor Longo did over ten years of research for this book, visiting many of the schools where American presidents and first ladies were students and teachers, read their report cards, spoke with teachers and classmates, and even sat in many times on the Sunday school class taught by President Jimmy Carter.
Dr. Longo is currently Chair of the Education Department of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania which sits on land once owned by Martha Washington. Over the years he has met several presidents and first ladies and taught and worked with a number of children whose ancestors once lived in the White House. He is the recipient of teaching and community service awards from the National Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities, the American Youth Foundation, and other organizations and non-profits and has been recognized as Educator of the Year by the Junior Achievement Corporation of Pittsburgh.
His last book a biography of Isabel Orleans-Braganza: The Brazilian Princess Who Freed the Slaves was nominated for Yale University’s Frederick Douglass Book Prize for the “Most outstanding book in English on the subject of slavery and abolition” and for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Book Award. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and is the author of six books.
Next week, The Advocates will be discussing novelist Alan Furst’s fascination pre-WWII espionage. In the coming weeks I’ll be hosting; Professor Garrison Nelson, talking JFK’s public policy legacy, Ellen Chesler’s reflections on Margaret Sanger and the GOP/Tea Party criticism of Planned Parenthood and Professor Donald M. Goldstein, on December 7th, who will be talking about the myths surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Download | Duration: 00:50:07
"The Arab Spring, Peace Prospects in the Middle East and American Politics," with Michael A. Cohen
My guest is Michael A. Cohen, author and commentator about American politics and issues.
Mr. Cohen last visited The Advocates on October 20, 2010 and we discussed: “Politics, the Tea Party and Governing through Stalemate.”
Michael A. Cohen is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Project and is author of Live From the Campaign Trail: The Greatest Presidential Campaign Speeches of the 20th Century and How They Shaped Modern America (Walker Books: 2008). He has also been a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and the World Policy Institute.
His research has focused on the growing role and influence of non-state actors. He has written on the issue of private military contractors, reforming the foreign assistance bureaucracy (with a particular focus on democracy promotion) and improving aid coordination between private and public actors. Michael is a regular blogger a www.democracyarsenal.org and writes a weekly column for AOLNews. Michael serves on the board of the National Security Network and has taught at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Previously, Michael served in the U.S. Department of State as chief speechwriter for U.S. Representative to the United Nations Bill Richardson and Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat. He has worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Foreign Policy magazine, and as chief speechwriter for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). He was a Senior Vice President at the strategic communications firm of Robinson, Lerer and Montgomery and has worked on political campaigns both in the United States and overseas.
A frequent commentator on politics and international affairs his work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, Dissent, World Politics Review, Newsweek, the World Policy Journal, Politico, Foreign Policy, the New York Daily News, Forbes.com, the St. Petersburg Times, Courier de la Planete, Worth Magazine and he offers commentary on national politics and foreign policy at Talkingpointsmemo.com. During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign he was a regular contributor to the New York Times Campaign Stops blog. He has also been featured on ABC News, Good Morning America NOW, Fox News, BBC TV, South African television, Al Jazeera, al Hurra, Press TV, Air America, WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, Pacifica Radio and XM Radio’s Potus ‘08
“The GOP's blatantly partisan love for Bibi obscures a dangerous reality: that unwavering support for Israel actually hurts wider U.S. interests in the Middle East. “ 5-4-11
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/24/blinded_by_the_right
Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University and a master’s degree from Columbia University. His expertise includes: U.S. foreign policy, national security strategy, counter-insurgency, Afghanistan, the growing role of non-state actors, private military contractors, and foreign assistance.
Download | Duration: 00:44:04
"Scattered Tribe, the Jewish Diaspora," with Ben Frank
My guest is Ben G. Frank, journalist, travel writer and author of "Scattered Tribe, Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond."
Ben G. Frank, author, journalist, is considered one of this country’s most distinguished travel writers and commentators on Jewish communities around the world.
With the publication of The Scattered Tribe, Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond, he breaks new ground in reporting on far-flung exotic Jewish outposts
He is the author of A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe 3rd edition, A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia and Ukraine and A Travel Guide to the Jewish Caribbean and South America.
A former newspaper reporter with the New Haven Register and Elizabeth Daily Journal, he has published articles in Hadassah Magazine, Reform Judaism Magazine, National Jewish Monthly of B’nai B’rith, Jewish Frontier, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jewish Press, Jewish Exponent, Jewish Week, as well as The New Haven Register, Inside Chappaqua Magazine, and Inside Magazine, Philadelphia, PA.
His books have been cited and reviewed in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Pittsburgh Press, the Miami Herald, and Journal News, White Plains, N.Y.
Frank has given talks at Jewish Book Fairs, synagogues and temples. His many lectures include, “Tolerance and Identity: Jews in Early New York, 1654–1825,” at the Museum of the City of New York, as well as a talk at the 92nd Street Y. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV talk-shows.
He is a B.A., cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. graduate of the Center of Israel and Jewish Studies, Columbia University. He has been active in such professional organizations as the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Overseas Press Club, the American Jewish Public Relations Society and the Pacific Area Travel Association.
Frank is president of The Frank Promotion Corp., a public relations firm, specializing in radio-tv talk-shows. He lives with his wife Riva in Palm Beach County, Florida. The couple has two sons, Martin and Monte, and four grandchildren.
Download | Duration: 00:49:49
"Education, Theater, and American Cultural Literacy," with Professor Victor Cahn
My guest is Professor Victor L. Cahn, educator, author, playwright and we’ll talk about his views on education and the culture.
Professor Cahn was raised in New York and received his A.B. degree from Columbia College and his MA and PhD from New York University. He has taught at Mercersburg Academy, Pomfret School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Bowdoin College and, of course is currently at Skidmore College. He is the author of several books on Shakespeare, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter and modern drama. His articles and reviews have appeared in such diverse publications, as Modern Drama, the Literary Review, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the New York Times, and Variety. Professor Cahn has written several works produced Off-Broadway, including Fit to Kill, Roses in December and Embraceable Me, were all published by Samuel French. Professor Cahn has appeared onstage with the Home Made Theater, Curtain Call Theatre, Albany Civic Theater, Schenectady Civic Players, Cohoes Music Hall, Hubbard Hall, and Theater Voices.
Besides being a playwright, in 2007, he starred in the role of Sherlock Holmes in his own play Sherlock Solo: An Original Presentation by the Master Detective at Theatre Row's Kirk Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan. Currently his new play Dally with the Devil, is playing at the Beckett Theater, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC.
Download | Duration: 00:52:11
"American Doctors and Their Connection with Drug and Device Industries," with Tom Nesi
My guest today is Thomas Nesi, author of Poison Pills : The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal, who was a guest on The Advocates on November 12, 2008 and May 12, 2010.
Our subject is how and why American doctors recommend their patients into specific drugs, devices, and procedures and what could be the impact of the new reporting feature of under the new healthcare reform act in 2013.
Thomas Nesi is a communications professional with more than thirty-five years experience in medical communications and strategic planning. He is a published author and professional lecturer as well as a medical film-maker.
Mr. Nesi has worked for leading pharmaceutical companies and medical schools as media and marketing advisor, general consultant and competitive research analyst. His work has been extensively produced and published and includes the noted ABC television special Fight For Life and the hard-cover and paperback book The Fire Inside (W.W. Norton, 1997.) Tom has lectured at Harvard Medical School and the University Medical Center of Princeton on medical marketing, bioethics and public relations practices.
Tom Nesi founded TJN Communications in 1990, and has done work for AstraZeneca LP, Pfizer, JJ/Merck, Glaxo, and Pharmacia among many others. Tom was an editor, reporter and consultant to Medical News Network and organized medical coverage of meetings such as the American Heart Association. Nesi has a B.A. degree from Columbia University and a Masters Degree from the University of Southern California
You can find out more about Tom Nesi and his writings at: www.tomnesi.org .
Download | Duration: 00:50:46
"Education in America: Is it Working?" with Professor John Loase
My guest is John Loase and our subject is a critical look at “Education in America: Is It Working,” and what we can do about it.
John Loase Classroom in China
Dr. John Loase, a life-long native of Westchester County, is a Professor of Math at Concordia College and served formerly as Professor of Math at SUNY-Westchester Community College. He has had a long career in academics that has spanned decades in both the public and private secondary schools and colleges of Westchester and New York. He has authored over thirty publications including eight interdisciplinary books, including; The Sigfluence Generation and his latest work, Statistics Made Easy, which was an outgrowth of a National Science Foundation’s sponsored program in Mathematical Modeling, that he directed. He has been an active lecturer and has been involved in numerous workshops on Advanced Statistics, Mathematical Modeling, among other disciplines.
Dr. Loase received a unique Joint Doctorate in Math and Psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College, after being awarded three Masters Degrees in Math, Counseling, and Psychmetrics from Manhattan College and Columbia University, followed by a sixty credit program that led to permanent certification as School Psychologist from the College of New Rochelle. He has been a member of the following professional organizations: -American Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, Past President, New York State- Thought – Consultant Editor (Fordham University) Chair – Task Force on Poverty in New York State (Commissioned by NYSSCA – branch of American Association for Counseling and Development). Past Vice President New York State Counselor’s Association American Statistical Association New York Academy of Sciences, Mathematical Association of America, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics, and the American Psychological Association –Divisions: Measurement and Humanistic Psychology.
Download | Duration: 00:45:52
"9/11, Ten Years Later: A Soldier's View," with David Everett, Colonel USA Reserve, Retired
My guest is David Everett, attorney, former prosecutor, Colonel in the US Army Reserve (Ret.), veteran of the Desert Storm, the Iraqi Freedom Campaign and Afghanistan, and our subject is, “9/11, Ten Years Later, a Soldier's View.".”
David F. Everett, an attorney in private practice, has had an extensive career in both military and civilian public service. A Brooklyn native, he graduated from Brooklyn College in 1973 and received his J.D. from Syracuse University in 1976. He served as an Assistant District Attorney in both Kings County (1976-1980; 1986-1990) and Queens County (1982-1986), New York. After working in the private sector for four years, David established his own law practice in 1994, concentrating in civil litigation.
During Operation Desert Storm –Persian Gulf War- in 1991, David, then a Major in the Army Reserve, volunteered for active duty and served in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait. In 2005-6, as a Colonel, he volunteered for active duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his service in Iraq, David was assigned to the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq. Working from Forward Operating Base Shield in Baghdad, he served as the principal Coalition Forces advisor to the Director of Internal Affairs of Iraq’s Ministry of Interior.
In January of 2009, having volunteered for active duty in Operation Enduring Freedom, David deployed to Afghanistan. There he was assigned to the Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan, where he served as a Senior Military Advisor to the Chief of Police of Kabul, with responsibility for the Kabul Security Plan. He completed his tour of duty and returned to the United States at the end of June 2009, resuming his law practice.
David was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom and the Department of Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his service in Afghanistan.
Having started out as a Big Brother with the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in 1981, David is currently a Vice President of the Board and a trustee for nearly 20 years. David is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Visitors of the City University of New York School of Law and Chairman of Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s Service Academy Review Board.
Download | Duration: 00:44:28
"Global Policy Making: Focusing on International Partnerships," with Harriet Mandel
My guest is Harriet Mandel, and our subject is building international partnerships of mutual concern. Harriet Mandel is an international affairs specialist with close to three decades of advising international policy makers, governmental, non-governmental, and non-profit organizations on global issues. Ms. Mandel’s expertise focuses on developing and expanding relations between the Jewish and international communities.
Ms. Mandel is currently Director of The Jewish Global Round Table, an innovative, Jewish/global relations project, under the auspices of B’nai B’rith International. This ground breaking program brings together high achieving young Jewish professionals and mid career diplomats from the United Nations and other diplomatic missions, to create constructive, bridge building relationships around common global issues of interest.
Harriet Mandel was born in New York City and studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, holds a B.A. with honors in Middle East Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs and, a Certificate from Columbia’s Middle East Institute.
From 1961 – 1964, she was Executive Assistant in the Foreign Relations Department of Israel’s Ministry of Social Welfare in Jerusalem. From 1986 – 2004, Ms. Mandel worked as Director of the Israel and International Affairs Department for the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, a major non-profit Jewish umbrella agency of 60 political, religious and social agencies. During that time, Ms. Mandel was key agency liaison with the U.S. Administration, Department of State, Congress and the diplomatic and foreign affairs establishment. In her decades of extensive world travel Ms. Mandel represented Jewish interests in capitals throughout Europe, East, South, South East and Central Asia and Latin America, where she maintains extensive contacts with government and non governmental representatives and Jewish communities. She has published articles on domestic and international issues and prepared numerous policy papers, backgrounders and speeches. She has been invited as an official guest of the Chinese and German governments and non-governmental agencies on many occasions, and participated in international conferences, seminars and forums, and as a panelist and featured speaker in the U.S., and abroad.
With extensive experience in inter-group and community relations, Ms. Mandel created innovative opportunities for exchanges between grass roots communities, new immigrant groups, and lay leadership, with global leaders, parliamentarians, ambassadors, diplomats, government representatives, politicians and ethnic and religious leaders. Ms. Mandel originated novel international educational programming for college campuses, middle and high schools, and young professional leaders, often bringing high level foreign dignitaries into academic institutions for exchanges with the student body.
Publications:
Harriet Mandel, Robert Kaplan, “Cultural Coalitions in New York City: A Case Study in Tolerance and Diversity”, The End of Tolerance, Alfred Herrhausen Society for International Dialogue, Nicholas Brealey Publishing (London, 2002). Harriet Mandel and David Pollock, “Anti-Semitism on the Rise: An International and Domestic Overview”, Prepared for the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, December, 2002. Harriet Mandel, “Jewish New York”: An Introduction to Jewish Life”, Prepared for the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Department of Israel and International Affairs, June, 2000.
In 2007, the Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer, bestowed upon Ms. Mandel the Grand Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria. In 2002, Ms. Mandel was the recipient of the prestigious New York City Jewish Heritage Week Award for Public Service presented by Bronx Borough President Adolpho Carrion, Jr. She is an active member of the prominent Middle East Seminar at Columbia University Middle East Institute.
Harriet Mandel is married to Dr. Harvey Mandel and is the mother of three daughters.
Download | Duration: 00:51:59