EP 39 DO WE KNOW MORE AND UNDERSTAND LESS IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA?

EP 39 DO WE KNOW MORE AND UNDERSTAND LESS IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA?

Michael Patrick Lynch suggests that in the sub-title of his book, ‘The Internet of Us’.  Now the director of the Humanities at the University of Connecticut and the man who leads the university’s Humility and Conviction in Public Life Project sets about to determine if our society is now capable of finding common reality.  He …

Read More Read More

EP 38 IS AMERICA EXCEPTIONAL?

EP 38 IS AMERICA EXCEPTIONAL?

The concept of American exceptionalism is often associated with a patriotic sense that our country is better than the rest–and politicians on the left and right both throw the term around.  Yet there are a number of other interpretations of that phrase.  Some say our founding made us destined to be unique among all the …

Read More Read More

EP 37 IS THE MAFIA DEAD IN AMERICA?

EP 37 IS THE MAFIA DEAD IN AMERICA?

Mob historian, Daniel Simone, a prolific author who co-write with Henry Hill ‘The Lufthansa Heist: Behind the Six-Million Dollar Cash Haul That Shook the World’ and, most recently, ‘The Pierre Hotel Affair’, describes the changes in organized crime approaches in the 21st century.  They are certainly not gone and will never be forgotten in the …

Read More Read More

EP 36 HOW GREAT IS THE FIRST AMENDMENT

EP 36 HOW GREAT IS THE FIRST AMENDMENT

In just 45 words, the American people were afforded the opportunity to tell its government what speech was protected from the overreach and restrictions inherent in all forms of government at the time.  And still, to this day, we have one of the only written and durable protections of this type in the world, including …

Read More Read More

EP 35 HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET MEN BACK TO WORK?

EP 35 HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET MEN BACK TO WORK?

  Today, more than seven million men between the ages of 25 and 54 in America are out of the labor force.  That can’t be good.  In fact, it’s an awful trend.  It creates a ripple effect–no jobs means fewer families are formed, fewer homes are purchased and more diseases of despair plague so many.  …

Read More Read More

EP 34 CAN AMERICA GET HEALTH CARE RIGHT?

EP 34 CAN AMERICA GET HEALTH CARE RIGHT?

Policy wonks joke that all Americans want from health care reform is unlimited care, from the doctor of their choosing, with no waits for treatment, at no cost. Oh, yes, and that doctors can undo all of the bad decisions we’ve made along the way about diet and exercise.  Dr. Elaina George, author of ‘Big …

Read More Read More

EP 33 JANESVILLE: A METAPHOR FOR AMERICAN COMMUNITIES IN DECLINE

EP 33 JANESVILLE: A METAPHOR FOR AMERICAN COMMUNITIES IN DECLINE

    Amy Goldstein is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who spent years documenting the aftermath of the economic meltdown in Janesville, Wisconsin in the wake of the closure of its long standing General Motors plant.  It’s a familiar story with consequences that seep into every crevice of the community.  She tells it through personal …

Read More Read More

EP 32 HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET MEN BACK TO WORK?

EP 32 HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET MEN BACK TO WORK?

Today, more than seven million men between the ages of 25 and 54 in America are out of the labor force.  That can’t be good.  In fact, it’s an awful trend.  It creates a ripple effect–no jobs means fewer families are formed, fewer homes are purchased and more diseases of despair plague so many.  While …

Read More Read More

EP 31 BREAKING THROUGH THE LAST TABOO: AN HONEST DISCUSSION OF DEATH(WITH COFFEE)

EP 31 BREAKING THROUGH THE LAST TABOO: AN HONEST DISCUSSION OF DEATH(WITH COFFEE)

A trend in America is a fuller, more honest discussion of our fears and anxieties surrounding the death process and what concerns us most, it turns out, is the approach we make to our final resting place.  Will it be a long and painful?  Will we have tied up our affairs? Will we be surrounded …

Read More Read More