Having already done books on most of the negative virtues, Joseph Epstein did another masterwork back in 2002. It was a hilarious analysis of how we try to lord it over one another by faking superior wisdom, importance and influence. Here he joins us together with John Anderson of the Tribune, an expert on “high society,” as they indulge their knowledge of snobology with tales from the front lines of pretention and high arrogance.

Sheldon Patinkin, a great figure in Chicago theater, knew everything worth knowing about the modern musicals. As he was putting together his great book on the subject, he joined us to talk about Gershwin, George M. Cohan. Rogers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, et al. And he bought along his records and tapes!! Here is our discussion with loads of great American music. The 2007 program is also offered as a commemoration of this great veteran of the Chicago stage – and chairman of the Theater program at Columbia College – who passed away earlier this year.

…so far in human history was – most relevant judges would agree – Sir Isaac Newton. He wrote down in a mathematical mode of his own invention (calculus!) some equations which described and predicted accurately how all of the known physical universe works. James Gleick did the great modern biography of Newton and here he is in 2003 in a full discussion of the man who defined the laws of physics when he was 23 years old.

…as a basic plan for how to direct American foreign policy is Joseph Nye. Here he is in a 2005  conversation with us about how “Hard Power” (i.e. military force) often backfires and undermines American foreign policy intentions. As a man in and out of government and for some years the Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, he did not exert much influence during the years of the George W. Bush presidency. Some argue now that he foresaw the mess-to-come in Iraq. When to use soft power and when the hard kind remains a pertinent issue for the two remaining Obama years and well beyond.

Robert Putnam did the book (yes, “Bowling Alone”) which argued that we were losing our “connectedness” to one another and becoming isolated and selfish individuals. But then, in 2003, he discovered that we were reconnecting in new ways. Here, with a colleague, he explains why and how. As you listen, you might ask yourself whether he described you and yours accurately in his then-new book “Better Together.”

The travelers on this excursion are a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General (Joe Morris), a lawyer and broadcaster focused on “strategic” issues (Mary Hartigan) and the co-founder and Political Editor of The American Thinker (Richard Baehr).

Liberal versus Conservative is the way you classify this sort of discussion but it never – well, hardly ever – describes or predicts the way the discourse will go. These three discussants take on such problems as: the emergence and deep threat of ISIS, white cops and black victims,  the legalization of the illegal, the loss of American international “credibility,” the uses of soft and hard power, the future of Obamacare, how the presence of a black President has affected the rage and despair of “ghetto” youth.

The beginning of modern Judaism can be traced to the crisis of 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This was the point of transition from priestly to rabbinic Judaism. But as our three truly expert guests explain, the persisting duality between mysticism and rationalism can be found in every stage of the long history. Of special interest in this program is the attention given to the most mysterious of all Judaic scripture: The Kabbalistic Zohar.

That was the title of Henry Kissinger’s book  published in 2001 and discussed with us in a memorable and far-ranging “tour of the horizon.” Topics included: missile defense, the instability caused by the end of the cold war, the Ruandan genocide, the emergence of modern China, the “dreadful” state of the Middle East at the beginning of the new century and, as a matter of some surprise,  the need for less American involvement in world politics. As in an earlier appearance on our program, the clarity and lucidity of his commentary was magisterial.

Or, at least, who tried to acquire all important knowledge by reading every word of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This ambitious young fellow, Alan Jacobs, then wrote an amusing book about his project and in 2004 discussed what he had learned while the proprietor challenged the limits of his and the EB’s knowledge. A good time was had by all.