Daniel Aaron Lazar

We Lost Studs

On 31 October 2008, I lost one of my heroes. I will miss Studs Terkel.

Here is a tribute from This American Life

Here is an interview with Studs from 1985

RIP Studs

Posted in Other News | No Comments »

This American Life on the Economy

A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

The followup show to the Giant Pool. Very informative

Posted in Other News, US GOV: Election 2008 | No Comments »

Great Minds Speak

Malcolm Gladwell talks about the importance of stubbornness and collaboration in problem-solving, and how long it takes to master any challenge. Introduced by David Remnick. View it here

…

No expert has brought as much fresh thinking to the field of contemporary copyright law as has Lawrence Lessig. A Stanford professor and founder of the school’s Center for Internet and Society, this fiery believer foresaw the response a threatened content industry would have to digital technology — and he came to the aid of the citizenry.

As corporate interests have sought to rein in the forces of Napster and YouTube, Lessig has fought back with argument — take his recent appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court, fighting the extension of copyright protection from 50 to 70 years — and with solutions: He chairs Creative Commons, a nuanced, free licensing scheme for individual creators.

Lessig possesses a rare combination of lawerly exactitude and impassioned love of the creative impulse. Applying both with equal dedication, he has become a true hero to artists, authors, scientists, coders and opiners everywhere. View his Ted Talk Here

Posted in Other News | No Comments »

The World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals

When Foreign Policy and Prospect magazine asked readers to vote for the world’s top public intellectual, one man won in a landslide: Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an inspirational leader to millions of followers around the world and persona non grata to many in his native Turkey, where some consider him a threat to the country’s secular order. In a rare interview, Gulen speaks to FP about terrorism, political ambitions, and why his movement is so misunderstood.

See the list here

Posted in Other News | No Comments »

China And Sudan: A Marriage Sealed In Oil, History

The relationship between Sudan and China is widely believed to be a marriage anointed in oil: China needs it and Sudan has it, and the two have been in business for years. But the Sudanese say their bond with China runs deeper than any oil well and goes back more than 100 years to a man who proved the adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Listen to the six part series here

Posted in AP China, Other News | No Comments »

Lazar’s Podcast Picks

I have become a podcast junkie and would like to share some of my favorite podcasts with you. If you are an ITunes user, you can easily subscribe to these in the ITunes Store browser. If not, I have hyperlinked the sites from which these podcasts can be downloaded.

All of the podcasts in this list are free.

I have asterisked the podcasts that I find exceptionally brilliant.

PLEASE leave a comment at the bottom of this post if you have any podcast suggestions for me. Feed me ideas.

News & Ideas:

Africa Today From the BBC World Service

From the New York Times

BBC From Our Own Correspondent

BBC In Our Time with Melvin Bragg*** (45 minutes of intense interviews with 2-3 scholars from various fields on one topic)

New Yorker Comment

NPR Fresh Air*** Terry Gross is still the best interviewer on the air. 45 minutes of one-on-one interviews.

NPR/WNYC On The Media*** A scholarly yet light-hearted analysis of modern media every Friday

Slate Daily Podcast*** The Friday Political Gabfest and, its little brothers, the Cultural Gabfest and the Economic Marketplace Gabfest, entertain and inform. Count on magnificent synergy among three bright minds

Deutsche Welle’’s Inside Europe Weekly

Music:

Sound Opinions with Greg Kot and JimDerogatis

Bands Under the Radar

NPR All Songs Considered

Entertainment:

A Prairie Home Companion News from Lake Wobegon

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History

Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me: The [Hilarious] NPR News Quiz*** This makes my Monday morning train ride enjoyable. It is a great way to start the week

This American Life*** This is still the best hour of radio. Broadcasted every Sunday

Real Time With Bill Maher (when in season)

Posted in Other News | No Comments »

The Wisdom of the Chaperones: Digg, Wikipedia, and the myth of Web 2.0 democracy

Social-media sites like Wikipedia and Digg are celebrated as shining examples of Web democracy, places built by millions of Web users who all act as writers, editors, and voters. In reality, a small number of people are running the show. According to researchers in Palo Alto, 1 percent of Wikipedia users are responsible for about half of the site’s edits.

Read from Slate

Posted in Other News, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »

Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Semite Problem?

In certain precincts of the Jewish community, a person who insists that the sky is falling, despite ample evidence to the contrary, is said to “gevaltize” a neologism derived from the famous Yiddish cry of shock or alarm. The word is sometimes applied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as Aipac, the hard-line and notoriously successful pro-Israel lobby. But in the world of Jewish leaders, one man stands alone in the annals of gevalthood � Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League and scourge of anti-Semites of high estate and low, in Hollywood and Tehran, on campus and in the tabloids.

Read more about Foxman from the NY Times

Posted in Other News, World Civ-The Middle East | No Comments »

‘Fight Club Politics’

Former Washington Post Congressional correspondent Juliet Eilperin says warlike tactics, manipulation and strategic takeovers have replaced compromise in the House. She drives home the point in her new book, Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the U.S. House of Representatives.

Listen to the story here

Posted in Other News, US GOV: Political Parties | No Comments »

This Film is Not Yet Rated

Filmmaker Kirby Dick’s new documentary, This Film is Not Yet Rated, peers into the secretive world of the Motion Picture Association of America’s film ratings system. MPAA board members are anonymous, deliberations are private, and standards are seemingly arbitrary.

Listen to the story here�

Posted in Other News | No Comments »