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Before the heirarchs of the digital world became the heroes of business students and MBA professors, the most admired “captain of industry” was Jack Welch, the long-term head of General Electric. Shortly after he retired in 2001 we chatted with him and found him delightfully and surprisingly bright, candid, unaffected and probably not really ready for retirement. As this conversation and his continuing public presence reveal.
Midrash is the Hebrew word for commentary, particularly commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Many secular intellectuals have been drawn toward that very challenge, among them Leon Kass, physician, philosopher and teacher of the humanities, now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. At the time of this 2003 conversation, he was a professor at the University of Chicago, on leave in Washington, where he chaired the President’s Commission on Bioethics.
The insights and meanings he finds in Genesis, as presented here, are focused not only on Creation but also on the possible realities behind the account of Abraham and his descendants and then upon the formation of the Jewish religion and its persisting “people.”
To define genius may be madness, but our guests – a nascent professor of English and, of all things, an economist – take on the challenge. The guiding theme is that the burning brilliance of the young genius and the steadiness of the Old Master are virtually non-overlapping. The argument in this 2006 conversation is illustrated by quotations from great poets and novelists, and audio from some films by genius-level movie directors.
Anyone who teaches in an American college or university and is over 50 knows – but may not admit or confess – that the average freshman is below, often far below, what was average even as recently as 20 years ago. The deficiencies are in math skills, history, knowledge of science and, of course, in the ability to write or comprehend real English. Nor are theses deficiencies necessarily corrected by the time the freshman has become a senior.
The “Common Core” movement is the latest panacea and is financially backed by the federal government. It is in operation in some states and debated with increasing anger in all of them. Here, drawing from the recent book in which they debated whether the common core should be implemented or discarded, are two leading conservative observers of the educational scene. On the “pro” side is Sol Stern of the Manhattan Institute. On the “con” side is Peter Wood, President of the National Scholars Association. The disagreement is intense and the stakes are very high for a country that spends more than any other on education and yet is exceeded in educational attainment – and, perhaps even in the essential skills of literacy – by half of the rest of the world.
The question is very often asked and, of course, there is no answer. But a list of the top ten would have to include Peggy Noonan. Here she is in high form, articulate, candid and rich with political aversions and enthusiasms. The basis for this conversation in 2001 was her then new book, “When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan.”
Psychologists have argued for a century or more over these questions: What is intelligence? How is it distributed within varied populations? Is it genetically determined? Can it be affected by education, by personality, mood and, for that matter, diet? Social psychologist Richard Nisbet joined us to give his research-based answers to those and other questions in this 2009 conversation.
John Cornwell, a British historian focused on Germany before and during the war, joined us in 2003 to discuss his challenging book , “Hitler’s Scientists: Science, War and the Devil’s Pact.” After all Jewish scientists were fired and left Germany, only two out of thousands of remaining scientists protested. Some others left but, in the main, the many thousands pursued their work seeking not only truth but public reward and either imbibing or privately resisting the Nazi ideology. The worst part of the story, as we discuss it with Cornwell, concerns those scientists – some of international reputation – who used their “sciences” to confirm, rationalize and advance Nazism. Names are named and dreadful stories told.
Way back in the late 70s as the program took shape we sometimes focused on modes of music that preoccupied the proprietor. On one particular night, caught here in a rather brief excerpt, two practitioners of bluegrass try to define the nature and production of its distinctive sound….and then we segue into a perfect performance by the Stanley Brothers of “The Maple on the Hill.”
We drew together two members of our “A-Team” and a major Democratic strategist. They are: old friend and regular Chris Robling; the Chicago Tribune’s great editorial cartoonist, Scott Stantis: and joining us for the first time, Kevin Lampe who really is and has long been an election manager and consultant for Democratic party candidates.
Our friendly combatants zero in on a number of expected and unexpected issues and questions.
Among them are:
The French really do admit getting joy out of life. Two who seem to make that claim with authenticity are Mirais Guiliano, author of “French Women Don’t Get Fat,” and Dominick Toigne, Parisian chef. Here in 2006 they ruminate joyfully on cuisine and then wander into the sociology or philosophy of actual real life in modern yet still-traditional France.
This website is the home of The Milt Rosenberg Show.…
