EP Podcast

Having Ears To Hear

2010-03-05T11:00:00Z

It's interesting: as climate science becomes ever more certain about anthropogenic global warming, the public — more so here in the U.S. but also abroad — becomes more skeptical. People really don't like bad news. To get at the science/public interface I turned to Bud Ward, editor of the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media. It was great to talk with Bud and I hope the message gets delivered, though, to be honest, I'm not optimistic. Total runtime one hour. Prepare for the worst!

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Empirical Monism

2010-02-26T11:00:00Z

Thinking conventionally about things distances us from ourselves. Instead, argues Dr. Ellen J. Langer, we could be mindful, alive to possibility. Being mindful — Ellen provides a boatload of empirical evidence for this — will improve our physical well-being, make us happier, and extend our longevity. Her latest book, Counterclockwise, tells the story. You should read it. I also happen to think her ideas have a profound application to politics, though we tread lightly on that question in this conversation. It was a pure delight to talk with Ellen and I learned a great deal. Total runtime an hour and one minute. Enjoy!

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The Hypnotist

2010-02-19T11:00:00Z

In a recent essay at the Huffington Post, Michael Brenner nails it. Mr. Obama, he writes, "is what we used to call a moderate Republican before the species became extinct." To get at some context on diverse political and foreign policy issues I asked Michael for a free-form tour d'horizon. I think it would be fair to say his bottom line is "anything is possible," but not necessarily in a good way. Even so, in these troubled times it's a blessing to hear some independent, unconventional thought. Total runtime an hour and five minutes. De oppresso liber.

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Mistakes Were Made

2010-02-12T11:00:00Z

Consider a counterfactual hypothesis about World War II. If Eisenhower had allowed Lt. Gen. Devers to cross the Rhine in November 1944, the war in Europe might have been shortened by several months and the Battle of the Bulge almost certainly never would have happened. Did Eisenhower screw up? What could have caused things to go so wrong? For a look at some relatively unknown and greatly underappreciated history I turned to David P. Colley, author of Decision at Strasbourg (Naval Institute Press, 2008). It's a fascinating story with a number of important lessons relevant for contemporary warfare. Total runtime an hour and eight minutes. Enjoy!

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Blueprints for Governing

2010-02-05T11:00:00Z

Although the Most Serene Republic of San Marino has an older, written, working constitution, among countries of any significance the United States of America has the oldest. By far. Unfortunately, it hasn't aged gracefully. We're driving a Model T but telling ourselves it's a Ferrari. We're delusional. And until we figure out that the system's rules deliver lousy results — that our political backwardness is not so much the fault of a deficient culture — we're stuck. To talk about this problem logically I turned to the brilliant Chicago labor lawyer Thomas Geoghegan. It was a rare pleasure to get into the structural nitty-gritty and I hope someday we'll see Tom in Congress. Total runtime forty seven minutes. Optimism favors the wise.

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Terrorism Safari

2010-01-29T11:00:00Z

Come visit Yemen, where for a modest fee authorized security operatives can observe terrorists in their native habitat and — at special à la carte pricing — if desired, kill them. Trophies available. Limited to parties of six or fewer; no boots on the ground; some other restrictions apply. Well, nobody in officialdom would be quite so louche to say so but that's pretty much what it amounts to... For a look at Yemen from the back of a pickup truck I turned to the former UK infantry officer James Spencer. A pleasure and an honor! Total runtime an hour and fifteen minutes. Listen & learn.

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Kill the Bill

2010-01-22T11:00:00Z

To ward off the Black Death, physicians in Europe donned bird masks fitted with red tinted lenses. Six hundred and seventy years later, when it comes to general-purpose health care in modern day America we prefer to deploy incense made out of money. The results are just about as good and the mentality is not much changed, either. To explore some of the pernicious superstition at the heart of our pending health care legislation I turned to Richard "R.J." Eskow, an expert who blogs frequently at the Huffington Post and who, I hasten to add, thinks the Senate bill could be made palatable. This conversation was slightly overtaken by Tuesday's vote in Massachusetts; nevertheless, it still sheds light on the choices before Congress. I very much enjoyed talking with Richard and I hope we can do it again. Total runtime an hour and five minutes. ℞

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Speeding Up Human Evolution

2010-01-15T11:00:00Z

It's got to be the biggest detective story in the world: what are our human origins? And if we're continuing to evolve at an ever faster rate, as Dr. Henry C. Harpending suggests in The 10,000 Year Explosion, how differently, then, might we identify with the earliest historians, or even relatively recent ones? A lot to consider. Not directly related to politics (perhaps), but the ideas profoundly influence how we talk about it. Total runtime an hour and nine minutes. Caution! Contains politically incorrect content.

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Tolerance or Capitulation?

2010-01-08T11:00:00Z

On the one hand, Muslims have every reason to feel aggrieved over U.S. military interventions around the world. On the other, many Muslim cultural practices run up against Western norms and don't — in my view — under the banner of religion deserve any special protections. Indeed, a danger exists the other way around when ecumenical tolerance, a bedrock liberal concept, gets circumscribed though undue deference to a fundamentalist world view. To explore some of these issues I turned to Dr. Jytte Klausen, author of the recently published (and partly censored by Yale University Press) The Cartoons That Shook the World. I don't entirely share Jytte's reasoning but I learned a great deal and am very grateful to her for talking candidly about her experience with her book. Total runtime one hour. Let secularism rule!

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Galactic Poachers

2009-12-18T11:00:00Z

If we're being visited by aliens — and I absolutely believe that we are — it shouldn't seem all that surprising if some of them abduct humans. Why they might do it and the extent to which it may be happening, however, remain murky. To talk about such strangeness I turned to the celebrated artist Budd Hopkins, whose just published memoir ART, LIFE and UFOs has got to be one of the most unusual ever written. It was great fun exploring different ideas with Budd and I'll give him this: his heart's in the right place. Total runtime an hour and four minutes. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year's and I wish you all a very joyous holiday season! ☃

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Climate Reality

2009-12-11T11:00:00Z

Industry pays many Americans not to believe in anthropogenic climate change. Other skeptics, however, have an innate, almost theological aversion to "theory," to the point where they have a great deal of trouble understanding the difference between theory and facts. In the context of our American debate it's critical, therefore, to emphasize the facts, and so to consider some high-priority ones I turned to Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a leading expert on coastal environments. Orrin's most recent book, co-authored with Rob Young, is The Rising Sea, an honest assessment of what will get washed away. I really enjoyed talking with Orrin and I wish his plain common sense were more widely shared... Total runtime an hour and two minutes. Seize the high ground!

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Passenger Rail

2009-12-04T11:00:00Z

Passenger trains. We're going to have to have more of them. But it would be folly to wait for the market to provide for our needs, because it won't. Passenger rail isn't profitable, anywhere. Let's be frank: it's socialized transportation. To talk about the virtues of train travel, and its politics, I turned to James McCommons, author of the most excellent and just published Waiting on a Train. Jim spent most of 2008 riding around on Amtrak and interviewing top people in the railroad industry, the book being a fun mix of travel writing, reporting and editorializing. It was a great pleasure to talk with Jim and I hope his message gets heard. Total runtime an hour and eleven minutes. Take the train!

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Archy and Mehitabel

2009-11-27T11:00:00Z

It's a truism — but no less true for that — we often can't get to reality except through literature. Or poetry. Or, in the case of Don Marquis, whatever it was, format-wise, that he wrote in his newspaper columns featuring Archy, the vers-libre poet reincarnated as a cockroach, and Mehitabel, the alley cat who fancied herself the reincarnation of Cleopatra. As Archy put it: "i see things from the under side now" and somehow he manages to explain the meaning of that perspective to us. To talk about this extraordinary work and other literary matters I turned to Michael Sims, editor of The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel and author and editor of several other books. It was a rare delight to talk with Michael; I hope you enjoy hearing from him as much as I did. Total runtime an hour and twelve minutes. Happy Thanksgiving! ♫

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Big Pharma, Unleashed

2009-11-20T11:00:00Z

In America, giant pharmaceutical corporations run roughshod over the public. They price gouge, charging 50% more than in civilized countries. They foist useless, often harmful — even deadly — drugs on the market. They profoundly corrupt the medical profession. Adding insult to injury, they pay unimaginable sums of money to get whatever they want from Congress. It's an outrageous situation. To learn the details of what's really going on I turned to Melody Petersen, who's been writing and reporting on Big Pharma for over ten years and whose latest book, Our Daily Meds, is a must-read. Despite the horror stories it was great to talk with Melody and I have the highest regard for her work. Total runtime an hour and eighteen minutes. No blind trust allowed.

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Baghdad Rumbled

2009-11-13T11:00:00Z

Forget Afghanistan for a moment. A lot of us, including me, have been worrying that the U.S. may be stuck in Iraq indefinitely. Quil Lawrence, however, says that that may not be the case. Quil, NPR's Baghdad bureau chief, has spent many recent years in Iraq, knows a great deal, has excellent judgment, and his reports must be taken seriously. Since I'm not there and he is, I defer to him despite my intellectual skepticism. I certainly hope he's right. It was great to talk again with Quil and I thank NPR for helping make it possible. Total runtime forty four minutes. Enjoy!

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