The "Too Big To Fail" FAIL

Two years after a massive government bailout that pulled the financial industry back from the abyss, lending is tight and job growth is barely moving. Yet the market for over the counter derivatives is again booming.

Long-time Newsweek economics correspondent Michael Hirsh suggests that Barack Obama's economics team helped the big banks become big winners by bailing them out without holding the institutions accountable to get the economy back on track.

So is it back to business as usual for Citigroup, Bank of America and the rest? Hirsh talks about the reforms that have been put in place and the lack of an ideological debate over the intersection between finance and politics.

Hirsh is currently Chief Economics Correspondent with the National Journal.

LISTEN: MICHAEL HIRSH - CAPITAL OFFENSE

Poor Political Climate

The world is getting hotter. The majority of climate experts are worried about the rising temperatures and carbon emissions may be the culprit. At the very least, the global hunger for energy is going to cause traditional carbon-burning power sources to see a rise in price. The time seems right for action to create a new, "greener," energy system.

When Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008 and was then met with a majority of his party in Congress, the prospect of seeing legislation that would support and incentivize business to cut down on carbon emissions seemed likely. However, since that time there has been little progress in the political system to change our carbon emissions.

Bloomberg Business Week editor Eric Pooley spent over two years embedded with the power players in the environmental and energy policy battle of cap and trade. Eric Pooley says that even though conditions seemed good to institute new rules to help cut emissions and boost a new "green" industry, that risks weren't taken and deals fell apart.

LISTEN: ERIC POOLEY - CLIMATE WARS

Power Outage

A decade into the 21st century, the United States is operating with an energy in the model of the second half of the 20th. Old-style power grids and power sources still keep the lights on in the U.S. And fossil fuels still keep our commerce moving on the road, rails and air.

Spencer Abraham was America's longest serving Secretary of Energy, holding the post from 2001-2005. As a cabinet member Abraham saw looming problems for the nation's energy future but also saw limited progress.

With growing industrial powers in Asia creating an increased demand for power, Abraham says that it is time to get moving on solving our long term energy needs. But the former Republican senator doesn't think there is a "silver bullet" alternative energy solution.

LISTEN: SPENCER ABRAHAM - LIGHTS OUT

Saddam Hussein's Breakfast Preferences

Food can play a huge role in the lives of the famous and powerful. Elvis famously loved to eat. Henry Ford had his share of food fears. In Iowa, politicians must pass a pancake flipping test.

Along with his brother Mark, Matthew Jacob has written the compendium of fame, food and history titled WHAT THE GREAT ATE.

Jacob talks about the dietary habits and influences of Elvis, President Ronald Reagan, Saddam Hussein, Joe Louis, Angelina Jolie and others.

LISTEN: MATTHEW JACOB - WHAT THE GREAT ATE

Evan Thomas on Obama and new media journalism

Newsweek senior editor Evan Thomas has won numerous journalism awards for the type of feature-style pieces that take weeks or months to research and write. Often Thomas would work under an "embargo," speaking to sources and gaining access to figures on the understanding that the story the writer was working on would not be released until after, for instance, an election.

With the rise of the blogs and the demise of the market-share for publications like Newsweek, does that mean that the style of journalism practiced by Thomas is also in danger?

Thomas discusses the future of Newsweek and gives his thoughts on the subject of one of his award-winning depth pieces, Barack Obama...

LISTEN: EVAN THOMAS - NEWSWEEK & OBAMA

When Politics Took Over: Clinton v. Starr

In his book, THE DEATH OF AMERICAN VIRTUE: CLINTON VS. STARR, historian and law professor Ken Gormley unpacks a turbulent and politically charged period in recent history.

Gormley spoke with all the major players in the Clinton-Starr affair and found more than one disturbing detail about how politics got in the way of the law, the operation of government and even national security.

Gormley gives some less-than-commonly known details about the Starr investigation and reflects upon what that era kicked off in terms of the political polarization.

LISTEN: KEN GORMLEY - CLINTON VS. STARR

Money For More Speech: Campaign Ad Rules Change

The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling to overturn a long-standing prohibition on corporations and unions funding political campaign ads has many worried that monied interests will have even more power to "buy" elections.

Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University says that the real danger of big money influence comes not just from the ability to buy ads, but from the murkiness of who is behind the political messages.

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - SUPREME COURT & CORPORATE POLITICAL AD MONEY

An Economy Unaccountable

America's accounting system doesn't balance out and the red is threatening to drown out the black. David M. Walker would know: he used to look over the books.

Walker was comptroller general of the United States and CEO of the Government Accountability Office from 1998 to 2008. In that time he reported on the growing fiscal imbalance the country was facing, but saw little action from our leaders to address the issue. Walker was prominently featured in the acclaimed documentary "I.O.U.S.A."

Now, as president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Walker is taking an active role pushing for the change of what he says is a broken system that is "headed for a cliff."

LISTEN: DAVID M. WALKER

The Gun Show

There seems to be little common ground between Second Amendment stalwarts and advocates of gun control. Is it simply a difference in ideology? A culture clash? Or something even more complicated?

Alexander Rose, who was raised in Australia and Britain, has written a "biography" of the American rifle. Rose examines the specific role of the rifle in U.S. history and theorizes that the American psyche is melded to the frontier spirit of independence that the firearm can represent. Rose talks about the rifle and the roots of the NRA, which may be surprising to some.

LISTEN: ALEXANDER ROSE - THE AMERICAN RIFLE & THE NRA

Rose says the approach to guns differs from East to West. The historian suggests that it's no mistake Americans developed the "marksman's" M-16 while the easy-to-use AK-47 has spread to be a symbol of insurgent armies.

LISTEN: ALEXANDER ROSE - AMERICA, THE RIFLE & HISTORY

Photographer Kyle Cassidy searches for compelling subjects for his portrait work. For his project ARMED AMERICA, Cassidy sought out gun owners to pose with their guns. Cassidy says he learned a great deal the differences between how people who proudly own firearms think...and how others might think about them.

LISTEN: KYLE CASSIDY - ARMED AMERICA

Cheating on the Free Market

New York Times business journalist and columnist Gretchen Morgenson has written about the influence of the banking and investment industry during the financial crisis and the behind-the-scenes discussions made by major players.

Morgenson talks about "creative destruction," the level of "freedom" in the American free market and a lack of reform for the financial industry.

LISTEN: GRETCHEN MORGENSON - READING THE CAPITALIST'S BIBLE

Sex, Violence and Bolsheviks

Dirty letters, icepick wielding assassins and a simmering world war all came into play during the turbulent final days of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Bertrand Patenaude, a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, details the soap opera final days and turbulent political life of the revolutionary in his book TROTKSKY: DOWNFALL OF A REVOLUTIONARY.

Patenaude discusses the intrigue involved in Trotsky's final days and the battling ideas that splintered the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.


LISTEN: BERTRAND PATENAUDE - TROTSKY

The Cable News Audience and Influence

Fox, CNN and MSNBC battle for eyeballs and influence on the political news cycle.

Blogs, opinion columns and even the old-style broadcast networks seem to take their cue from the cable nets. But the cable outlets don't command as many viewers as the bluster of the prime time hosts would seemingly indicate.

Dr. Robert Thompson, Director of the Blier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University watches it all. Who else is watching might be surprising.

LISTEN: ROBERT THOMPSON - CABLE NEWS

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

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