Here is an article from Time Magazine written by Edward Kennedy and Orrin Hatch which discusses how people can give of themselves to improve America and the world. It is a call to action on their national service bill soon to be introduced to the Senate.
While you are at it, check out www.usaservice.org to see what service opportunities are in your area.
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NO MATTER what happens in 2009, financial markets can surely not be as turbulent as they have been in 2008. The virtual demise of the independent investment bank, the rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the halving of global share prices—these were sufficient shocks to last investors for a decade.
If 2008 was dominated by a financial crisis, 2009 seems likely to be the year when the bad news comes from the economy and from the non-financial corporate sector.
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Dr. Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University, who has been a pioneer in the Free Culture Movement and the founder of Creative Commons, is shifting his focus to fighting corruption in Washington DC. Though I am duly impressed by his efforts to combat corporate greed and influence over licensing arrangements, I am excited that he is devoted to getting to the core of the problem. Lessig has delivered his final lecture at Stanford and will be moving to Harvard to direct the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.
He writes about his decision to shift focus here and he was recently interviewed by Terry Gross where he spoke about his decision to fight the next noble battle.
Though always the cynic, I am excited about the prospect of Lessig on a crusade, backed by the coffers of Harvard, to tackle corruption at the highest levels.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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)
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
Radiolab***Science, philosophy, and psychology in narrative form. Splendidly produced.
Slate Daily Podcast*** The Political Gabfest and the Cultural Gabfest. Count on magnificent synergy among three bright minds
Start the Week with Andrew Marr: 4 guests, 1 theme, 1 hour. great way to, err, start the week.
Deutsche Welle Inside Europe Weekly
Music:
Sound Opinions with Greg Kot and JimDerogatis
Entertainment:
A Prairie Home Companion News from Lake Wobegon
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. Every Sunday
Real Time With Bill Maher (when in season)
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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.
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