Current Affairs

  • Nicholas A. Christakis MD, PhD

  • James H. Fowler PhD

    Authors of CONNECTED: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives .Your colleague's husband's sister can make you fat, even if you don't know her; a happy neighbor has more impact on your happiness than a happy spouse. These startling revelations of how much we truly influence each other are revealed in the studies of Drs. Christakis and Fowler, which have repeatedly made front page news nationwide. Their work shows us that six degrees of separation is a notion of the past; we all follow what Christakis and Fowler call the "Three Degrees Rule,” and we are profoundly influenced by people up to three degrees from us. 

    The authors can speak to:

    • BUSINESS/ECONOMY: Christakis and Fowler describe the role of social networks in the flow of money in our economy, and how the links in our networks can be valuable to us, and bring us more wealth. They touch on the microcredit market/micro-lending.
    • HEALTH/WELL-BEING:  How our social networks affect our health – both physical and emotional.  Why are you more likely to be obese if your friend’s friend is obese? How does being a member of online social networks – Facebook, MySpace, etc – which often seem impersonal, actually improve our health and our well-being?
    • POLITICS: Do our votes really matter? Why are we more likely to vote if our friends and friends’ friends are voting? Why do we vote, in the end? How can politicians use social networks to become the best-connected politician there is?

  • Mr Vijay Vaitheeswaran

  • Author of ZOOM.

    Vijay Vaitheeswaran is an MIT trained engineer who covers global environmental and energy issues for The Economist. ZOOM was shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

     The author can speak to:

    • “Oil is the problem. Cars are the solution.” Which automakers are leading the way on innovation on new, cleaner technologies for cars.
    • Why some of Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs are making executives in Detroit very, very nervous.
    • What new technologies are already available that the oil lobbies have made difficult for the auto industry to embrace.
    • Of the existing energy alternatives—hydrogen fuel cell, plug-in, wind, solar, biodiesel—which seem to offer the most promising solution to our dependence on foreign oil? 
    • Why the author proposes a gas tax, and whether or not Americans would ever accept one. 

     

  • Douglas Frantz

  • Catherine Collins

    Authors of THE MAN FROM PAKISTAN.

    Douglas Frantz has been managing editor of the Los Angeles Times, a reporter for the New York Times and The Chicago Tribune, and is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Catherine Collins has been a reporter for The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. She and her husband Douglas Frantz have written several book together, including Celebration and Death on the Black Sea.

    The authors can speak to:

    • A.Q Kahn’s menacing role in the spread of nuclear technologies to states such as Iran, North Korea and Libya.
    • The threat of terrorists obtaining nuclear or other radioactive materials.
    • The precarious political situation Pakistan finds itself in today, and what that could mean for its own cache of nuclear weapons.
    • What the next administration can do to curb the spread of nuclear technologies.

  • Katharine Hayhoe

  • Andrew Farley

    Authors of A CLIMATE FOR CHANGE: GLOBAL WARMING FACTS FOR FAITH-BASED DECISIONS. Katharine Hayhoe is an expert reviewer for the Nobel Prize- winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a professor in the Dept. of Geosciences at Texas Tech University, and CEO of ATMOS Research, a scientific consulting company. Her work has been presented before the U.S. Congress, highlighted by state and federal agencies, and been featured in more than 200 newspapers and media outlets around the world. Andrew Farley is a pastor, tenured professor at Texas Tech University, and author of "The Naked Gospel: The Truth You May Never Hear in Church."

    The authors can speak to:

    • Climate is always changing - how do we know it isn't just a cycle?
    • It's freezing outside -- where's global warming now?
    • Why should Christians care about global warming when we know the world isn't going to end that way?

  • Robert M. Edsel

  • Author of THE MONUMENTS MEN. Robert Edsel began his career in the oil and gas exploration business. In 1996 he moved to Europe to pursue his interests in the arts. Settling in Florence and seeing some of the great works, he wondered how all of the monuments and art treasures survived the devastation of World War II. During the ensuing years, he devoted himself to finding the answer. Robert also coproduced the related documentary film, The Rape of Europa, and wrote Rescuing Da Vinci, a photographic history of an art heist of epic proportions.

    The author can speak to:

    • Who are the Monuments Men?
    • Examples of great works rescued by the Monuments Men.
    • The importance of the Monuments Men in preserving our culture.

  • Mark Penn

  • Author of MICROTRENDS.

    Mark J. Penn is the worldwide CEO of Burson-Marsteller. He was pollster to President Clinton and adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, numerous corporations, and 25 foreign heads of state. He has written for many premier publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has appeared frequently on CNN, Fox News and other media networks.

    The author can speak to:

    • How companies, marketers and policy makers can identify and target important new microtrends – the small but growing groups of people who share an intense choice or preference that is often counterintuitive and has been overlooked or undercounted.
    • Which unanticipated microtrends ultimately had the greatest influence on the 2008 election
    • Which microtrends may have the most profound effect on the policies of the next administration.

     

  • Robert Scheer

  • Author of THE PORNOGRAPHY OF POWER.

    Robert Scheer has built a reputation for strong social and political writing over his 30 years as a journalist. He is currently the editor in chief of Turthdig.com, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, and of the hosts of KCRW’s “Left, Right and Center.”

    The author can speak to:

    • One of the most overlooked and dangerous issues of our time—the destructive influence of America’s military-industrial complex.
    • Which companies stand to gain the most from our swelling defense budget?
    • What portion of our defense budget is allocated to supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? How is the rest of that money used?