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(LAST 7 DAYS)
1. The Word According to Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe begins by discussing the written word, in its popular forms. The master novelist and journalist says the novel is dying a horrible death, although non-fiction work will continue and the memoir will never die. He then talks about the subject of his latest novel (still in progress): immigration.
2. A BUG'S LIFE: A Conversation with Tom Wolfe
Noted Author Tom Wolfe discusses the latest findings in the field of neuroscience, which Wolfe believes"... is on the threshold of a unified theory that will have an impact as powerful as that of Darwinism a hundred years ago." Over the past several decades, neuroscientists have been putting together a model of the human brain that suggests that a great deal of our behavior and motivations are hardwired in our brains. In exploring the question of what human nature is, Tom Wolfe makes the connection between this cutting edge and religion, philosophy, and psychology.
3. AN AMERICAN HIROSHIMA: Preventing Nuclear Terrorism
Many experts believe that it is almost inevitable that terrorists will soon have the ability to detonate a nuclear weapon in the heart of a major American city. How can we stop them? What are the specific threats that we face and how should we respond to them? Do we face a greater danger from nuclear weapons that may have been stolen from the former Soviet Union or from the clandestine efforts of rogue nuclear scientists? And if the threat has increased since 9/11, why hasn't the United States done more to contain it? Peter Robinson speaks with Graham Allison and Scott Sagan.
4. TAKE IT TO THE LIMITS: Milton Friedman on Libertarianism
What are the elements of the libertarian movement and how does one of its most illustrious proponents, Milton Friedman, apply its tenets to issues facing the United States today? Milton Friedman, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences discusses how he balances the libertarians' desire for a small, less intrusive government with environmental, public safety, food and drug administration, and other issues.
5. Kissinger on War & More
Peter Robinson explores the global challenges confronting American today--from Iraq to Europe to Iran and the dangers of nuclear proliferation--with Kissinger, one of the country's most preeminent foreign policy practitioners. Kissinger asserts that the 1960s myth, that the U.S. government is somehow an evil enterprise, is alive and well. In this environment, he says, our leaders need to present a clear and educated vision of America's role in the world.
6. The Free-Market Case for Green
A dedicated, unabashed, free market capitalist, T. J. Rodgers takes a businessman’s and engineer’s view of global warming. How serious is it, and what should we make of the plans offered up by politicians such as Al Gore and Barack Obama to deal with it? If “cap and trade” or pollution taxes on CO2 are not the answer, what is? (39:52)
7. CROSS PURPOSES: The Crusades
The Crusades happened almost a thousand years ago—why do they still provoke an argument? Osama bin Laden has used them to attempt to rally the Islamic world to his cause; President Bush has called the war on terrorism a "crusade." But what is the truth about the Crusades? Were they motivated by savage greed and intolerance or by pious idealism? Were they an unprovoked attack by the West on the Islamic world or a reaction to centuries of Islamic incursions? How should we understand the legacy of the Crusades today, in a time of conflict between the West and radical Islamic terrorists?
8. THE POPULATION BOMB REDUX: Is Population Growth a Problem?
In the past century the earth's human population has quadrupled, growing from 1.5 billion in 1900 to about 6 billion today. By 2050, it is estimated that the global population will reach 9 billion. In 1968, a young biologist named Paul Ehrlich wrote a best-selling book called The Population Bomb, which sparked an ongoing debate about the dangers of overpopulation. He argued that population growth was destroying the ecological systems necessary to sustain life. So just how worried should we be? Is population growth a problem or not? And if so, what should we do about it?
9. THE HIGH (AND MIGHTY) COURT: Judicial Supremacy
Did the framers of the United States Constitution intend that the Supreme Court be the sole and final interpreter of the Constitution, with the power to place binding decisions on the executive and legislative branches? Or did they intend that the Supreme Court have the final say only on the legal cases that came before it, thus permitting the executive and legislative branches to have wide latitude in interpreting the Constitution for themselves? The former view, that of judicial supremacy, is the dominant view of the Supreme Court today, accepted, for the most part, both within government and in society more generally. Is this view supported by the Constitution? If not, why and when did it arise? Should we support judicial supremacy, or is it time to rein in the Supreme Court?
10. ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER: A Conversation with Robert Bork
There are often said to be two competing schools for interpreting the meaning of the Constitution. On one side are those who believe that the meaning of the Constitution must evolve over time as society itself changes. On the other side are those who insist that the original intent of the framers of the Constitution—what they wrote and what their intent was in writing it—is all that matters. Robert Bork is firmly in the latter school. We asked him to explicate his understanding of the U.S. Constitution, using recent Supreme Court decisions as case studies.
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