Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Unearthing the Nuclear Age

With the secretive development of a nuclear program in Iran and new concerns over the atomic power base, Amir Aczel looks back at the development of the bomb.

Aczel writes about science and mathematics and is the author of the bestseller FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM. In his latest book, URANIUM WARS, Aczel lays out long-secret details about the development of the atomic bomb and the decision of how to use it.

LISTEN: AMIR ACZEL - URANIUM WARS

Friday, September 25, 2009

Young Money: Gen Y Consumers

Consumer power is shifting as a generation of under-30 spenders take control of the marketplace. Consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow examines how young people are spending money differently than their parents. Yarrow is the co-author of GEN BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail.

LISTEN: KIT YARROW

Friday, September 18, 2009

New Iranian Power

CIA veteran Robert Baer sees rationality and a calculated reasonableness in the leadership of Iran. The former CIA career officer takes a look at the state of Iran following the election protests and a growing degree of brinkmanship over nuclear capability. All of Iran's actions (if not words), are based upon what is a significantly changed region following the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Baer's books SEE NO EVIL and SLEEPING WITH THE DEVIL were the basis for the Academy Award-winning film SYRIANA.

LISTEN: ROBERT BAER

Monday, September 14, 2009

Saving Art From the Nazis

During the second World War, Hitler ordered his commanders to take sculptures, paintings and other art works from museums and individual collectors to fill a giant museum he was planning to build. Much of this art work was lost, and much more notable architecture was destroyed during the course of Nazi expansion. Robert Edsel, who heads up The Monuments Men Foundation, talks about the Allied effort to protect and recover works of art.

LISTEN: ROBERT EDSEL

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Haynes Johnson: Kennedy's Impact on 2008

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Haynes Johnson, along with co-author Dan Balz, dug deep into the 2008 presidential campaign for a long-form behind the scenes look at history as it happened. In their book THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA 2008, Johnson reveals heated phone calls between Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy, the decision making process of the McCain campaign to choose Sarah Palin as a running mate and other then-unreported details.

LISTEN: HAYNES JOHNSON

Friday, September 4, 2009

Life In Cars

From dangerous behavior (like texting and steering) to intimate displays (like nose grooming), most Americans seem to act differently while in the comfort of their vehicle than they might otherwise act in a public space.

Tom Vanderbilt, author of TRAFFIC: Why We Drive The Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), discusses misconceptions and misbehaviors we engage in behind the wheel.

LISTEN: TOM VANDERBILT on TRAFFIC