The Advocates on WVOX

"Why American Politics is Still in FDR's Giant Shadow" with Professor Terry Golway

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

My guest is the Terry Golway, author of Together We Cannot Fail, FDR and the American Presidency in Years of Crisis. Our subject is the legacy of FDR on his 130th Birthday and the coming 80th anniversary of his election in 1932 and why the giant shadow of the New Deal still affects politics today!” Professor Golway last appeared on The Advocates on January 27, 2010.

Terry Golway is the director of the John Kean Center for American History at Kean University in Union, N.J. A former member of the New York Times Editorial Board and city editor of the New York Observer, he is the author of several books, including:

* “Together We Cannot Fail,” a study of Franklin Roosevelt’s speeches.
* “Fellow Citizens,” the Penguin Book of Inaugural Addresses, co-written with Robert Remini;
* “Let Every Nation Know,” a study of John F. Kennedy’s speeches;
* “Washington’s General,” a biography of Nathanael Greene;
* “So Others Might Live,” a history of the Fire Department of New York;
* “For the Cause of Liberty,” a history of Irish nationalism;
* “Irish Rebel,” a biography of the Irish-American journalist John Devoy.

Golway served as a consultant to the Museum of the City of New York for its 2008 exhibit, “Catholics in New York,” and he edited a book of essays about Catholics in New York published by Fordham University Press. He was awarded his PhD from Rutgers University.

Golway has appeared on several documentaries on PBS and the History Channel. He has been a guest speaker at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Society of the Cincinnati of New England, New York University’s Ireland House, the New College of California, Catholic University of America, and Fordham University’s Bishop Hughes Center for Culture and Religion. He is a frequent contributor to American Heritage, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times.

He recently was interviewed WCBS News 88 by Wayne Cabot on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/12/08/nj-professor-looks-back-on-fdrs-handling-of-pearl-harbor-using-radio/

"Should Israel Exist and the Christian Plight in the Middle East" with Professor Michael Curtis

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

My guest is Professor Michael Curtis, author of the new book, Should Israel Exist?

Michael Curtis is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political science at Rutgers University. He is highly regarded as an expert in several fields--political theory, comparative government, European politics and the Middle East and is the author of Orientalism and Islam, European Thinkers on Oriental Despotism in the Middle East and India, and how historical perspectives give us insights into today’s problems in that vital area. Professor Curtis last appeared on The Advocates on March 27, 2011, and that show and all others can be accessed at: advocates-wvox.com.

Among his approximately 30 books a few should be singled out as being particularly important and influential. His most recent book Verdict on Vichy, 2004 examined the degree to which the French legal and administrative system, the Church, and individuals in different walks of life collaborated with the Nazis who occupied France between 1940 and 1944. He reviewed the careers of those persons indicted for crimes against humanity, and the complex aryanisation process which requisitioned Jewish goods and property. His analysis of the rise of anti-democratic and anti-Semitic ideology in France after the Dreyfus affair in a book called, Three Against the Third Republic is considered the definitive study of this era in early 20th century French political history.

Other books include Totalitarianism, a study of the 20th century European totalitarian regimes, and Anti-Semitism in the Contemporary World. The latter book is a collection based on the papers delivered at a groundbreaking conference Professor Curtis organized in the 1980s.

In addition, Professor Curtis is considered an expert on the Middle East. His many books on this area of the world cover a number of subjects. He was one of the first to discuss the tangled web of the interconnections between religion and politics in the Muslim world in Religion and Politics in the Middle East. Other significant books on the Middle East include Israel: Social Structure and Change and Israel in the Third World. Professor Curtis is the author, as well, of textbooks that cover political theory, The Great Political Theories, a book first published forty years ago is still in print today.

Professor Curtis has been an activist as well as a scholar. For many years, he was the president of American Professors for Peace in the Middle East and editor of the Middle East Review. As such he was often called upon by the press and television for comments as problems arose in the Middle East conflict over the last decades. He has traveled widely, in all the Western European countries including a year in Paris, as well as visits to Russia, Croatia, Israel, Korea, Japan, and Australia.

Professor Curtis was born in London in 1923 and educated at the London School of Economics, where he got a degree with first class honors. He came to the United States and obtained a doctorate at Cornell University in political science. In addition to his years at Rutgers, he has taught at Cornell University, Yale University, Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Massachusetts, University of Bologna, and Connecticut College, and given lectures at hundreds of institutions. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey, is married, and has two sons and six grandchildren.

Recent Articles:
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2012/01/the_devils_advocate_and_free_speech.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/12/palestinians_are_an_invented_pe
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2011/12/the_sad_plight_of_christians_in_the_middle_east.html

"Nazis in America and the Secret War Against the Jews," with John Loftus

Richard J Garfunkel — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:55:57 GMT

My guest is John Loftus and we are going to discuss “Nazis in America, and how they got there and why.”

John J. Loftus is a former Army Officer, former Federal Prosecutor and noted historian. He is included among the few ever to have held COSMIC security clearances, including code word, NATO, and nuclear Top Secrets. For decades he has worked without pay as an attorney to help other law abiding intelligence agents blow the whistle on government corruption. He is the author of seven books, two of which were international best sellers and one was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Loftus is a graduate of Boston College (BA, 1971) and Suffolk University (JD, 1977). He served in the U.S. Army from 1971 to 1974, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant. He began working for the US Department of Justice in 1977 and in 1979 joined their Office of Special Investigations, which was charged with prosecuting and deporting Nazi war criminals in the US.

His 60 Minutes expose of Nazis war criminals working for US intelligence won the 1982 Emmy Award for outstanding investigative journalism. Since then he has been a frequent intelligence contributor for network television including CNN, ABC, and Fox. Several of his books have been made into television movies. American Secrets, a documentary film about his research into America’s finest families who funded Hitler, will soon be released in movie theaters nationwide. Now that the classification clock has expired after thirty years, Mr. Loftus’ most recent book, America’s Nazi Secret, reveals for the first time what the US Justice Department has been censoring from the view of the American people. He rips the lid off the US connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, and other Middle Eastern terrorist groups.

Mr. Loftus currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida and writes a weekly intelligence column, Spyview, for Ami Magazine in New York. He is the President of the international Intelligence Summit, and is the past President (and first Irish Catholic President) of the Florida Holocaust Museum.

"Power Brokers, Child Abuse, Betrayal and Cover-ups," with Nick Bryant

Richard J Garfunkel — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:11:03 GMT

My guest is Nick Bryant, the author of "The Franklin Scandal," and we’ll be talking about the precarious status of American children regarding trafficking, sexual abuse and the child networks which parallel the headline grabbing Penn State scandal.

Nick Bryant’s writing on the plight of disadvantaged children in the United States has been published in numerous national journals, including the Journal of Professional Ethics, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, and Journal of School Health. He is the co-author of America’s Children: Triumph of Tragedy, addressing the medical and developmental problems of lower socioeconomic children in America. The Franklin Scandal is a investigative journalist’s foray into why a major sex network was covered up. Bryant has been researching child trafficking in the US for nine years, and is a foremost expert on the subject.

"You Voted for Who? And You Call Yourself a Christian?" with David M. Kennedy

Richard J Garfunkel — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:51:07 GMT

My guest in the first show of 2012 is David M. Kennedy. David was born and raised in Sherman, Texas, a part of the country he now calls the safe harbor for conservative hypocrisy. At the age of 53, he and his wife of 30 years moved to Ridgway, Colorado, which they now call home. Ridgway is the location for the filming of the original True Grit.

By profession, David is a trial lawyer who has focused the last 20 years of his practice to the representation of those injured and abused in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. He has lectured on elderly abuse, the detection and prevention of the same, and is a firm believer that government funded programs are vital to the very health and safety of our seniors. He also believes the conservative movement in this country that directly attacks the social safety nets, as well as efforts at tort reform, have and will result in even more neglect to the most vulnerable among us.

Raised a Baptist, David credits the Christian Coalition=s Voter Guide push in America=s churches as his wake-up call that something was seriously amiss within established Christian denominations, and that was the influential politics of the Christian Right. Due to the undesirable presence of conservative politics, David moved his family from his life-long church to a new Baptist church, becoming the chairman of deacons and one of the first elders chosen to lead that church. He then left with others to establish a non-denominational church that became the first religious organization to be permitted to hold church in the local public school district facilities of his community.

Hearing the constant rhetoric of the approaching 2010 elections, David decided it was time to rededicate his life to his Christian faith. His first act was to author You Voted For Who? And You Call Yourself A Christian?, the title being the actual quoted rebuke his wife received from one of her conservative Christian friends upon being told that she had voted for Barack Obama. The book applies a biblical analysis to challenge that conservative mantra of the usual political wedge issues that always drives the evangelical Christians to support the Republican Party. The book may be purchased through his website dedicated to fighting what he calls the good fight against the Christian Right, www.christianadvocate.com, as well as on Amazon.com.

"The Year in Review-2011, What's Ahead for 2012"

Richard J Garfunkel — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:09:19 GMT

Four of my guests on this year’s edition of the “Year-end Round-Up” are back from last year. Again this afternoon we have Dr. Lewis Perelman from Virginia, John Puma from Mount Vernon, John Berenyi from New York and all over the world, Dr. Bob Flower from Bronxville and special guest from Boston and Harvard University, Dana Garfunkel The topic today will be a review of the year 2011, reflections on the first three years of the Obama Administration, and predictions for 2012.



                                 John Puma John Berenyi Bob Flower Richard J. Garfunkel

Our first guest this morning is Dr. Lewis J. Perelman is a Washington-DC policy and management consultant. A native of Mount Vernon, New York, and one of my oldest friends, he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the City College of New York, and went on to study space and planetary physics at Columbia University and Harvard University. He later earned his doctoral degree in administration, planning, and policy from Harvard, where his studies focused on sustainable economic development. Dr. Perelman has over thirty years of professional experience focused on the processes of innovation, sustainability, and resilience—as a consultant, analyst, author, publisher, and teacher. Recently, he has been working on energy, climate, and other issues related to infrastructure development and risk management as a consultant to several associations, research institutes, and public agencies.

In 1992 he gained renown for his best-selling book “School’s Out”, which anticipated much of the revolution that the Internet and information technology would end up causing in learning, work, and the keys to business success. Since 2001, Dr. Perelman also has been actively engaged in work on homeland security, for the federal Homeland Security Institute and other organizations.



                                          Lew Perelman     Richard and Dana Garfunkel

John Berenyi currently he advises governments, corporations and non profit organizations from Mt. Vernon, NY to South Carolina and cities in South Florida on sustainability, risk management and strategic planning related to alternative energy. Internationally, he is an advisor on these matters to companies and public entities in Israel, New Zealand, Hungary and other areas. He has over 25 years of experience as financial advisor, technology and economic consultant and investment banker. His work has been at the intersection of engineering, business law, urban planning, management, economics and finance.

The focus of his activities: alternative energy projects, power systems, solid waste facilities, mass transit authorities, highways and bridges, affordable housing and mortgage finance, water and sewer systems, long term care facilities, non-profit institutions such as universities, museums, stadiums, hospitals and nursing homes.

John has undergraduate and graduate degrees in industrial engineering, management sciences and applied economics and public finance from Columbia University and was named a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard University. He worked as the Co-Chairman of the NY State Task Force of business and economic leaders and citizens established   to support the amendment to the NY State Constitution which now allows “Tax Increment Financing” by communities throughout NY.

John Puma is a career entrepreneur, who loves the challenge of business. John, who was born in Brooklyn, brought up on Long Island, and gravitated to Mount Vernon, was educated at the State University of NY in Buffalo earned a degree in Management & Finance and earned another degree in TV Production at NYU. John through his company – American Worldwide Energy - is deeply involved is 2 aspects of the NEW energy business - Energy Efficiency – reducing electric and gas consumption in multi-family housing and buildings and developing large utility scale Solar projects. He has developed a turnkey system to design, engineer, earn lucrative rebates and complete financing for these projects making them virtually no money down for real estate owners through the NJ Clean Energy Program and NY’s program through NYSERDA. This past year he upgraded over 3,000 apartments cutting their consumption in half and built 7MW of solar power making some facilities virtually self sufficient.

He is also a stakeholder with the NJ Board of Public Utilities and the NJ Office of Clean Energy and as such has made major inroads in shaping energy- public policy in the state of NJ.

Dr. Robert Flower, who is a resident of Bronxville, NY, is a graduate of both Fordham University and Walden University with a BA degree in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Philosophy along with Organizational and Systems Sciences. Bob is a successful entrepreneur, scholar and adventurer who has spent 29 years analyzing human potential and developing a methodology for achievement. Through his discovery of the Laws of Potential and development of Natural Intelligence and Thinking, Dr. Flower has achieved tremendous personal success, and helped others to set and reach their goals as well.

As Director of The Gilchrist Institute for the Achievement Sciences, a sociopolitical/economic think tank since 1982, he discovered the Laws of Potential and Natural Intelligence. He has written 3 books on Potential and Intelligence and lectured on the subject twice at the United Nations (1991, 1992). His books are published in 3 countries. As a General Systems Specialist (expert in learning, potential and intelligence) he has been frequently featured in newspapers and magazines, and has appeared on national radio and television programs.* He is now a member of the Economic Development Transition team of Michael Spano, the newly elected Mayor of Yonkers. He also hosts 2 shows: The Public Advocate in several cable markets, and The Master Pattern Report -- an international internet show where Dr. Flower predicts economic, political and stock market activity with incredible accuracy. WEBSITES: www.drbobflower.com.

Dana Garfunkel, a native New Yorker, who was raised in White Plains and has lived in Boston for the past seventeen years, is a graduate of Rutgers University and earned her MS at Boston University. She has been affiliated with Harvard University for many years and currently is the Assistant Director of Recruitment of the Office Enrollment Services of the Harvard Kennedy School.

"Religion in America, 2011," with Rabbi Lester Bronstein and Father Gawain de Leeuw

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT

My guests are Rabbi Lester Bronstein of Beth Am Shalom and Father Gawain de Leeuw of Saint Bartholomew’s of White Plains, NY. Our subject is the secular challenge to the spiritual world.



Rabbi Lester Bronstein has served Bet Am Shalom Synagogue in White Plains since 1989. He is past president of the Westchester Board of Rabbis, and is on the board of several interfaith organizations, including the White Plains Religious Leaders Association. Formerly he was a lecturer in Rabbinics in the Cantorial School of Hebrew Union College in New York. For many years he and his wife sang with Beged Kefet, a charity-based Jewish musical group. Lester was born in Houston and educated at Yale, BU and the Hebrew Union College and writes and teaches about the revitalization of Jewish life in America, based on ancient models of practice.

Father Gawain de Leeuw has served congregations in White Plains for 10 years and has been at St. Bartholomew’s for the past seven years (he was previously curate at Grace Church).

Father de Leeuw, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1996, was raised in Rochester New York, to a multi-faith family. He graduated with a degree in Philosophy, cum laude, from Oberlin College in 1991 and was awarded his Masters in Divinity degree at the University of Chicago in 1995. He received his Anglican Studies certificate at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. He was graduated with his Doctor in Ministry in Congregational Development at Seabury-Western Seminary in 2010

After ordination, he received the Luce Scholar’s award, serving the English Mission at the Anglican Cathedral in Seoul and teaching liturgical theology at Anglican University. He has been trained in Leadership, Authority and Organization at the Tavistock Institute and facilitative leadership and coaching at the Interaction Institute for Social Change. He has written for the Anglican Theological Review, The Witness, SoMA magazine and Salsa New York. He has served as the chair of the Committee for the formation of a Credit Union, and is currently the Dean of the Westchester Central Clericus, and president of the White Plains Religious Leaders.

"The Sports' Year End: Teams, Players, Media and Money," with Bob Trupin, Bruce Fabricant, Alan Rosenberg and Ron Tocci

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:00:00 GMT

My returning guests are Bob Trupin, Bruce Fabricant, Alan Rosenberg and newcomer Ron Tocci. Our subject is “The Sports’ Year End: Teams, Players, Media, and Money.”



        Bruce Fabricant - Ron Tocci - Alan Rosenberg       Alan Rosenberg - Richard J. Garfunkel

Bob Trupin, an All-Ivy Basketball star at Yale, has been a coach, camp director, teacher, and commentator. He has had a long career as camp director, he has taught at places as varied as the NYC school system, Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, the Guilford Arts Center, the Shoreline Foundation, and college summer programs. His sport’s column, “Handle on Sports” appeared in the Shoreline Times newspapers for many years.
He has been a camp and an athletic director for thirty years at Camp Trupin in Colchester, CT, Friends Seminary, in NYC, and Kutscher’s Sports Academy in Monticello, NY. He has directed Robert Trupin’s Sporthink in Madison, CT for the past 12 years, which focuses on counseling, coaching and consulting at all levels for athletes, coaches, parental involvement, and teams.

                               Bob Trupin and American Iconic Sports Images

Bob, who originally grew up and was educated in Mount Vernon, NY, was a Westchester High School All-County Basketball player, played basketball at Yale University, where he was selected All-Ivy and was drafted by the NY Knicks. He worked for the Knicks in the publicity department in the late 1960’s. He also has an MBA from NYU’s Graduate School of Business and a MS from Fordham University. Bob was a guest on The Advocates this past September.

Bruce Fabricant who grew up in Mount Vernon has spent more than four decades in marketing and advertising. Nearly 25 of those years were with Grey Advertising in New York City where headed up the agency’s public relations department’s sports marketing group.

He began his career at Grey promoting Getty Oil’s New York Yankees Honorary Batboy campaign. Through the years he promoted everything from General Foods’ Box Tops for Fun ‘N Fitness School Program, to the Mennen Company’s NFL Fastback of the Week Award to Cracker Jack’s Baseball Card Collectibles and Kenner Toys’ Starting Lineup baseball figurines.

In the late ‘60s he helped produce the first annual Major League Baseball Highlight film sponsored by Investors Diversified Services.   He has written five made for television sports films sponsored by Panasonic. They include “The Heisman Trophy – The Possible Dream”, “Bullpen – The Story of Baseball’s Relief Pitchers”, “Tennis Everyone” and “Soccer -- New Game in Town”. He currently heads his own Westchester-based public relations firm. He most recently has written two books about Mount Vernon. The first, “That Perfect Spring” is about growing up in Mount Vernon during the 1950s and playing baseball for the city’s championship A.B. Davis High School team. This year he has edited a book titled “Remembering Mount Vernon – The Place We Called Home” that features essays about the city of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Both are available at www.lulu.com. Bruce was a guest on The Advocates in April of 2009.

Alan D. Rosenberg is a native Mount Vernon, graduated from AB Davis/MVHS and New York University. He has an MBA from Baruch College, has been a CPA for over 40 years, has offices in both New York City and Scarsdale and is an avid sports fan and memorabilia collector. Alan also played basketball for NYU, and has been heavily active in NYU alumni affairs. Over the years, Alan has appeared four times on The Advocates; two as a guest panelist with former NYU basketball great Cal Ramsey, and Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca, who also was a AB Davis HS and NYU graduate and athletic great.

Ron Tocci, a lifelong resident of Westchester County, Tocci served from 1966-1968 as a paratrooper for the U.S. Army in the 82nd Airborne Division. After an honorable discharge, his passion for serving his country and fellow soldiers led him to a career in public service. He began as a County Legislator in the Westchester County Legislature for four consecutive terms then served in the New York State Assembly (D) for ten terms, representing the NY State’s 85th and 91st Assembly Districts from 1985 through 2004.

Assemblyman Tocci is widely known for spearheading policy changes that address veterans’ concerns, as well as legislation combating alcohol and substance abuse in the community. As chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Tocci was responsible for laws helping veterans become eligible for benefits, receive college tuition assistance, and become employed in the public sector. He secured funding for veterans nursing homes and passed a resolution urging Congress to prohibit physical desecration of the American Flag. His dedication to veterans’ affairs and to the community earned him the National Distinguished Service Medal presented by the New York State Department – American Legion.

In 2004, Tocci was appointed Commissioner for Veterans Affairs for New York State where he coordinated and oversaw all programs servicing veterans. In 2007 he retired from that position and now heads the Tocci Group, a consulting firm that advises political groups, media organizations and private corporations on how to better their interests in their communities.

"At Dawn We Slept: The Myths About Pearl Harbor," with Professor Donald M. Goldstein

Richard J Garfunkel — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:15:54 GMT

My guest is Professor Donald M. Goldstein and the subject is the “Myths of Pearl Harbor, 70 years later.”

Donald M. Goldstein, Ph.D. (University of Denver) is a retired Air Force officer who served for 22 years. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught at the Air Force Academy, the Air War College, the Air Command and Staff College, the University of Tampa, Troy State University and the University of Pittsburgh. A former Associate Dean at this school, he is currently on the faculties of Asian Studies, Eastern European, Western European, and the Honors College programs at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently the Associate Director of the Matthew Ridgway Center for International Security Studies.

Dr. Goldstein is author or co-author of over 70 articles and 27 books. His most famous is At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, which is in its 20th printing. The book was first runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 and was on the New York Times bestseller list for 47 weeks. His book, Miracle at Midway, was on the bestseller lists for 9 weeks. Other books by Goldstein and his associates include December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History, The Williwaw War (the story of the Arkansas national guard in World War II Alaska), Target Tokyo: The Story of the Sorge Spy Ring, Nuts: The Story of the Battle of the Bulge, D-Day Normandy, The Spanish-American War, Vietnam, The Korean War, Fading Victory: The Autobiography of Admiral M. Ugaki, The Pearl Harbor Papers, and a biography of Amelia Earhart. All the above books were Book-of-the-Month Club, History Book Club or Military Book Club selections.

Averaging over 200 talks a year to radio, TV and civic organizations, Dr. Goldstein has been awarded two Peabody awards for work on “Pearl Harbor: Two Hours that Changed the World” with David Brinkley (ABC), and “D-Day: A Soldier’s Story” with Peter Jennings (ABC). His teaching awards include: 14 straight teaching certificates for outstanding teaching from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs; 7 times teacher of the year, Air Command and Staff College; award for teaching excellence from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA, 1999). In 2002, he was awarded the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Pittsburgh. His latest book is about Jimmy Doolittle and the Bombing of Tokyo.

In addition to his Ph.D. from the University of Denver, Dr. Goldstein holds a Bachelor of Arts, three masters degrees and is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College. He is a consultant for ABC, NBC, NHK, the Discovery Channel, A&E, the History Channel, and the Disney Channel. He is currently working on two books: World War I and World War II in the Southwest Pacific, to be published in 2003. Professor Goldstein is a contributor to such programs as Good Morning America, the Today Show, Larry King Live and C-Span. He is married with four children. He and his wife, Mariann, reside in Florida.

"Women of Valor, Margaret Sanger and Women's Reproductive Rights" with Dr. Ellen Chesler

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:00:00 GMT

My guest is author and historian Dr. Ellen Chesler and we will be talking about Margaret Sanger, the struggle over women’s reproductive rights, and the revisionist attacks of the right wing on Planned Parenthood.



With over thirty years of experience in government, philanthropy, and academia, Ellen Chesler is widely respected for the practical and intellectual perspectives she brings to public policy.

Dr. Chesler is currently a Senior Fellow at the Four Freedoms Center of the Roosevelt Institute, an innovative New York City- based think tank that promotes ideas, influences policy and nurtures young talent, all by way of creating a living legacy for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, whose presidential library in Hyde Park, the institute also supports. She is shaping the institute’s new policy program on human rights while also helping to expand overall public programming.

From 2007-2010, she was Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Initiative on Women and Public Policy at Roosevelt House, the new public policy institute of Hunter College of the City University of New York. She played a central role in defining the institute’s three part mission: engaging students through the development of policy courses; supporting the faculty in applied policy research and advocacy; and sponsoring lectures, seminars, and conferences, most prominently “Aspen at Roosevelt House,” a discussion and lecture series in collaboration with the Aspen Institute that attracted large and enthusiastic audiences.

For nearly ten years prior, Dr. Chesler served as a senior fellow and program director at the Open Society Institute, the international foundation started by George Soros, where she helped develop and execute the foundation's multi-million dollar global investments in reproductive health and women’s rights and advised on a range of other program initiatives. Her work with women combined support for policy research and advocacy, public education, and litigation with strategic investments in new birth control products and model service innovations that promise long-term benefits in public health in the United States and in many countries around the world.

Dr. Chesler is author of the critically celebrated Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America. A finalist for PEN's 1993 Martha Albrand award in nonfiction, the book was released in a new paperback edition in 2007. She is also co-editor of Where Human Rights Begin: Health, Sexuality and Women in the New Millennium, Rutgers University Press, 2005, and she has written numerous essays and articles in academic anthologies and in newspapers and periodicals including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Nation, the New Republic, the American Prospect, and the Women's Review of Books. She has written blogs for New Deal 2.0, the on-line publication of the Roosevelt Institute, for the Huffington Post and other web-sites.

Dr. Chesler has extensive experience as a voluntary leader with non-governmental organizations. She currently chairs the nominating committee of the board of directors of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. And she serves on the Advisory Committee of the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, which she chaired for six years. From 1997 to 2003, she chaired the board of the International Women's Health Coalition. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2009 and 2010, she served as a U.S. public delegate at meetings of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She has also long been active in Democratic politics, especially on behalf of women candidates, most recently New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Early in her professional career, Dr. Chesler was chief of staff to New York City Council President Carol Bellamy, who was the first woman ever elected to city wide office in New York. An honors graduate of Vassar College, Chesler earned her masters and doctoral degrees in history at Columbia University. She is married to New York lawyer, Matthew Mallow, and they are the parents of two adult children.

"President Kennedy and Public Policy" with Professor Garrison Nelson

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:00:00 GMT

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.

"Intrigue, Anxiety, Espionage and Resistance in Europe During WWII" with Alan Furst

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:00:00 GMT

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.

"Presidents and their First Ladies, As Teachers and Students," with Professor James M. Longo

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:00:00 GMT

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.

"The Arab Spring, Peace Prospects in the Middle East and American Politics," with Michael A. Cohen

Richard J Garfunkel — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:59:08 GMT

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.

"Scattered Tribe, the Jewish Diaspora," with Ben Frank

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:39:21 GMT

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.

"Education, Theater, and American Cultural Literacy," with Professor Victor Cahn

Richard J Garfunkel — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:25:15 GMT

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.

"American Doctors and Their Connection with Drug and Device Industries," with Tom Nesi

Richard J Garfunkel — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:43:15 GMT

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 .

"Education in America: Is it Working?" with Professor John Loase

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:00:00 GMT

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.

"9/11, Ten Years Later: A Soldier's View," with David Everett, Colonel USA Reserve, Retired

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:00:00 GMT

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.

"Global Policy Making: Focusing on International Partnerships," with Harriet Mandel

Richard J Garfunkel — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:00:00 GMT

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.