TALK / TALK
A fun, feisty, and philosophical dialogue among two leading independents as they reviewed the week's top political news.
ARCHIVES: 2006 ‐ 2010
For years, Fred Newman and Jacqueline Salit ‐‐ two leading activists and intellectuals within the independent political movement ‐‐ watched the political talk shows and discussed them over coffee. In early 2005, they began transcribing these conversations and distributing them to their friends and followers. Over the years, their "talk about the talk" developed into a popular weekly missive distributed via e‐mail to tens of thousands of readers worldwide. Making ﴾Non﴿ Sense of an Irrational World is a compilation of some of their most popular and thought provoking discussions from the last five years.
Bill’s Back.
(August 9, 2009) We watched a NewsHour segment on Iran about Ahmadinejad’s inauguration and the “show trials” in which the opposition leaders are recanting – under duress – their prior positions about the illegitimacy of the elections. Some Iranian experts in the U.S. mocked the regime for insisting that there had been meddling by the West in the protests.
What’s Next in Afghanistan?
(August 2, 2009)
We spent some time following the war story, the drawdown of American combat forces in Iraq while playing more of a support role to the Iraqi national army, combined with a build up in Afghanistan, building up troop levels and building up the strategic emphasis on U.S. policy in Afghanistan. I thought we might talk about that.
Long Shots.
(June 28, 2009) We watched a series of shows as events continued to unfold in Iran. There are two topics being discussed. One is what is it that’s going on in Iran? And the other is how is Obama relating to those events?
The Moral Core.
(June 21, 2009) Newsweek ran a cover story titled “The Capitalist Manifesto,” with a lead essay by Fareed Zakaria. Basically, “The Capitalist Manifesto” says that it’s not capitalism that is in crisis, it’s finance that is in crisis, due to the unregulated/greedy/irresponsible behavior of the financial industry, all of which was legal. After laying out an overview of the crisis and the signs of seeming recovery, Zakaria concludes by saying that whatever your take on this crisis, over the last 30 years of globalism crises have occurred at a more frequent rate and that overall instability needs to be addressed. How?
Surprises and Clutch Playing.
(June 14, 2009) Today we’re going to touch on health care, foreign policy, and capitalism. A few minor subjects! Let’s start with health care.
On the Tarmac, on the Court, on the Ball.
(June 7, 2009).We started with an interview that Chris Matthews did with Richard Wolffe, who has a new book out about Obama called “Renegade: The Making of a President.”
Labor, Capital and Consistency.
(May 24, 2009). Let’s start with Andy Stern and the new labor movement...He’s a controversial figure in the labor movement and his controversy stems from the fact that he took a huge chunk of member unions out of the AFL-CIO and set up a separate federation.
Unthinkable and Undecidable.
(May 10, 2009). I want to start by asking you about some of the ideas that Charlie Rose discussed with Joshua Cooper Ramo, who wrote “The Age of the Unthinkable.” Essentially Cooper Ramo focuses on the disconnect between what he calls old ways of thinking and the very significant changes that have occurred in the world. He underscores the dangers inherent in that disconnect.
Law and Disorder.
(April 26, 2009). I hate to torture you with the torture issue but I’m going to.