This discussion was recorded in 2007 and in some cases tells a sometimes different story of what went on in Vietnam and what happened when it was over. Compared to the show above that was recorded in 1978, this episode reveals that for many who were there, it will never quite be over.

One of the best political analysts in Israel is Caroline Glick, deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post. She’s joined here by Richard Baehr, political editor of The American Thinker. The basic questions addressed: Will the new pact with Iran work? (No). Does it threaten Israel’s survival? (Yes). Can and will Israel do anything about it? What?

AFTRA is the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. SAG is the Screen Actors Guild.  And the Players are veteran performers who love the “old time radio” in which they performed as very young actors. They appeared with us many times doing wonderful bits (such as Bob and Ray) and whole programs (such as the Lux Radio Theater). Here is their first appearance  on our program as performed eight years ago.

…was the title of a  book by Paul Davies  published in 2007. He was and is one of the great astrophysical cosmologists and had just moved to the U.S. from his native Australia. Unlike many other members of his academic guild he favors the hypothesis that a transcendent presence or force (God?) was and is involved in the origin of the universe and its “tuning” to make life and evolution possible and “inevitable.” This was, predictably, one of the programs most often requested for replay and that’s what we do right here.

As far back as 2007 (the year of this program) lots of American professors began expressing alarm and anger over the reduction of intellectual standards, the abandonment of “high culture” and the leftwards politicization of most American universities. Three critics joined us one memorable night in voicing the indictment and specifying the disturbing details.

A few years after the end of her premiership Margaret Thatcher came to spend two hours with us, and we are still looking for the full tape! But here’s a fascinating fragment of that conversation from 1992 as she reminisces about her first meeting with Gorbachev when he dropped in for a real conversation (with no preparatory notes and only his translator) at 10 Downing Street.

…or, as the famous Albert Schweitzer put it, “Der Besuch dem Historichen Jesu.” It has occupied the full careers of many biblical scholars. One of the foremost in our time is John Dominic Crossan. He is joined in this conversation by Ray Pickett of the Lutheran School of Theology.

…whether in radio or television are provided by “voice-over actors,” many of whom pursue their special trade (it’s really a very special art!) in Chicago. Here are four of them telling the secrets of the trade, invoking their many voices and having a good gossip session one night back in 2002. One of them is the famous Joel Corey who was the snap in Kellog’s  “snap, crackle and pop.”

Here’s a famous linguist who disagrees with contemporary advocates of the simple, minimalist style whether in writing or in oratory. To the contrary, John McWhorter tells us, in this spirited conversation from 2003, that he favors and misses the “elevated speech” that once marked the public utterances of great political figures and great writers. The conversation abounds with examples of memorable quotations. A very good time was had by both guest and host.

What’s the connection? We assert nothing more than on one fine night in 2008 we did a two part program with two biographers who had done excellent and separate books about these two men of great (and incomparable) attainment. It rather makes one wish that we could get Disraeli and Buffett together in a live, trans-chronological radio discussion.