Free Forum with Terrence McNally

Aired 03/14/10 Though Atul Gawande is a best-selling author, a Harvard professor, and an innovator in best practices for the W.H.O., he still performs 250-plus surgeries a year. A framed copy of Sylvia Plath's poem "The Surgeon at 2 a.m." stands on the desk in his office." Her surgeon's words: "I worm and hack in a purple wilderness." Gawande likes the Plath poem because it casts the surgeon in an ambiguous light. "Most writing about people in medicine casts them as either heroes or villains," he says, "That poem captures the surgeon as a merely human, slightly bewildered and benighted person in a world that is ultimately beyond his control."Medicine is just one area of our world that is becoming so complex that even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. In his new book, The Checklist Manifesto, Gawande offers a disarmingly simple remedy: the checklist. Now being adopted in hospitals, the 90 second practice cuts fatalities In surgery by more than a third. NOTE: This interview was recorded when Gawande was recently in LA, prior to Obama's healthcare summit and the latest legislative negotiations. http://gawande.com/

Originally aired 08-04-2009As we celebrate the holidays - religious, cultural, and annual - we're paying more attention than usual to our relationship to God at the same time that winter and the new year call us to reflect and look forward. I want to share with you this interview I recorded June 5, 2009, with ROBERT WRIGHT. That week THE EVOLUTION OF GOD, no light read, was the #8 New York Times bestseller and he was all over the media, including a feature on Bill Moyers Journal. Robert Wright takes on big questions, and in THE EVOLUTION OF GOD, he follows the changing moods of God as reflected in ancient Scripture, to see what circumstances brought out the best and worst in religions.The question of how politics might influence our God stories is relevant - due, globally, to the West's confrontation with radical Islam, and in the U.S., to the political activism of evangelical Christians - both evident in the misadventures of the U.S. and George W. Bush from Bagdhad to Teri Schiavo.According to WRIGHT, "The moral of the story is simple: When people see their interests threatened by another group, this perception brings out the most belligerent parts of their religion. Such circumstances are good news for violent extremists and bad news for moderates."The condensed print version of this interview was the lead article at AlterNet.org the weekend of July 11-12, 2009, and the 3rd most discussed article of the week.

Originally aired 4-4-2010After a fight within the Democratic party, the House passed a spending bill this week that rolls back one of the most important provisions of Dodd-Frank. When it passesthe Senate, taxpayers will be back on the hook for the big banks' gambles on derivatives and other exotic financial instruments. I thought it was time to play this interview with MICHAL LEWIS about how Wall Street's corrupt casino culture led to the Crash of 07-08 - because we've just given them license to do it again.Both Ira Glass and Malcolm Gladwell say today's guest is their favorite storyteller. In his books and magazine articles, Lewis writes about sports, business, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, political campaigns, fatherhood. Stuff that matters to a lot of people. He's smart and he has a sense of humor. Lewis was a trader at Salomon Brothers before he wrote his first best-seller, LIAR'S POKER about the excesses of Wall Street during the 1980s. He continues to write about that world with his last two books, a column for Bloomberg, and articles in Vanity Fair. In this interview recorded four years ago,we talk about THE BIG SHORT. But Lewis is so good at making obscure financial information accessible to readers, that I asked him to spend much of the hour defining terms that laid out the path to the Crash - securitization, derivatives, credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, etc. I highly recommend this guide to the dark side of finance.

originally aired 7-24-2011What's good enough for a child you love? What's good enough parenting? Good enough early education? Good enough healthcare? Good enough schools?DAVID KIRP, envisions a national effort to support and develop our children based on a simple "Golden Rule:" Every child deserves what's good enough for a child you love. David Kirp, Kids FirstIn KIDS FIRST, he offers on-the-ground accounts of initiatives that work - and that could affordably be implemented in communities everywhere - to achieve five key priorities: 1) strong support for new parents 2) high-quality early education 3) linking schools and communities to improve what both offer children 4) giving all kids access to a caring and stable adult mentor 5) providing kids a nest egg to help pay for college or kick-start a career.Where do you think the most important changes need to take place to turn things around in terms of big issues like the economy, the environment, and social justice?His latest book, Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools, was named outstanding book of 2013 by the American Education Research Association. The book chronicles how an urban school district has brought poor Latino immigrant children, many of them undocumented, into the education mainstream.

Originally aired 12-30-2012Where do you think the most important changes need to take place to turn things around in terms of big issues like the economy, the environment, and social justice?Some say climate change is the critical global issue so it must be clean energy. Others say nothing will make as much difference for the world's people as educating and empowering girls and women. Closer to home, a case can be made that public financing of political campaigns would have the most impact on all issues by making it possible for the power of the United States to become a greater force for good.All good answers, but this week's guest gives another answer - and its one that I share. Frances Moore Lappe, who has herself been a force for good at least since the publication of the phenomenal best-seller Diet for a Small Planet in 1971, says that the greatest impact would follow from changing our minds.In her 18th book, ECOMIND: CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK, TO CREATE THE WORLD WE WANT, Lappé argues that much of what is wrong with the world, from eroding soil to eroding democracies, results from ways of thinking that are out of sync with human nature and nature's rhythms. Drawing on the latest research in climate studies, anthropology, and neuroscience, she weaves her analysis together with stories of real people the world over, who, having shifted some basic thought patterns, now shift the balance of power in our world. Chapter-by-chapter, Lappé takes us from "thought trap" to "thought leap," and with each shift, challenges become opportunities.

originally aired 02-13-2011How much technology do you use? Email, texting, facebook, twitter, second life, etc. Has it freed you up, given you more time, or has it added new demands to your life that actually make you feel you have less time? If you're using social media regularly, do you feel more connected with your friends and family or less?Clinical psychologist SHERRY TURKLE has been studying our relationship with technology for most of her career, and has written several books about what she's experienced and learned. Of her newest, ALONE TOGETHER, she has said, "This is a book of repentance. I have been studying computers and people for thirty years. I didn't see several important things. I got some important things wrong." I was already interested in talking to her, but that really grabbed my attention. I'm interested in people, maybe especially experts, who are willing to change their minds.Turkle writes: "Technology promises to let us do anything from anywhere with anyone. But it drains us as we try to do everything everywhere. We begin to feel overwhelmed and depleted by the lives technology makes possible. We may be free to work from anywhere, but we are also prone to being lonely everywhere. In a surprising twist, relentless connection leads to a new solitude. We turn to technology to fill the void, but as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down."

originally aired 05-05-2013You're busy trying to make ends meet. The news is filled with celebrity gossip, natural and corporate disasters, the latest mass homicides, and dysfunctional politics. How much do you know about the covert wars the US is involved in around the globe?JEREMY SCAHILL'S best-selling book and Oscar-nominated documentary, DIRTY WARS, begins as an investigation into a US night raid gone terribly wrong in a remote corner of Afghanistan, and quickly transforms into a high-stakes global investigation into the rise of JSOC, Joint Special Operations Command, the most secret and elite fighting force in U.S. history. In military jargon, JSOC teams "find, fix and finish" their targets, who are selected through a secret process. No target is off limits for the "kill list," including U.S. citizens.DIRTY WARS reveals covert operations unknown to the public and carried out across the globe by men who do not exist on paper and will never appear before Congress, raising questions about freedom and democracy, war and justice, morality and politics. No matter how little you know, these actions are being done in your name.

originally aired 03-03-2012In the early 1960s, MARSHALL GANZ dropped out of Harvard to join the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. He then spent 16 years working with César Chávez and the United Farm Workers. He returned to Harvard in the 1990's, graduated, earned his Ph.D., and now teaches the power of public narrative at the Kennedy School. Marshall GanzDuring Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, he was lead organizer of the grassroots for the former community organizer. GANZ offers a valuable perspective on the Occupy/99% movement.

Originally Aired: 03/16/14We all deal day to day with a lot of questions and a lot of fears – around work, money, health, politcs, relationships. And at some point, we will all deal with the final fears and the final questions – fear of death and questions about what it means and what if anything comes after.At his request, today’s guest, SARA DAVIDSON met every Friday for two years with 89-year-old RABBI ZALMAN SHACHTER-SHALOMI, the iconic founder of the Jewish Renewal movment, to discuss what he calls THE DECEMBER PROJECT. “When you can feel in your cells that you’re coming to the end of your tour of duty,” in tHe rabbi’s words, “what is the spiritual work of this time, how do we prepare for the mystery?”Davidson, who describes herself as having a seeker’s heart and a skeptic’s mind, feared death would be a complete annihilation, while Reb Zalman felt certain that “something continues.” He didn’t want to convince her of anything, but to loosen her mind.” Through their talks, he wanted to help people “not freak out about dying,” and enable them to have a more heightened and grateful life.www.saradavidson.com- See more at: http://aworldthatjustmightwork.com/2014/03/free-forum-qa-sara-davidson-author-of-december-project-extraordinary-rabbi-skeptical-seeker-take-aim-at-greatest-mystery/#sthash.f2a9nEZZ.dpuf

Originally aired 07-28-2013I say that in a past life I worked in the entertainment industry, comedy in particular. I co-wrote and co-produced novelty records THE HOMECOMING QUEEN'S GOT A GUN, I LIKE EM BIG AND STUPID and EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY all performed by Julie Brown. I directed comic music videos for some of these songs, and ended up co-writing and co-producing the film EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY. I've produced and hosted this show since 1996 and I consult and speak primarily to non-profits and foundations, working with them on communications, encouraging them to tell better stories.My transition seems mild compared with that of this week's guest, TOM SHADYAC, whose phenomenally successful writing/directing/producing career included the hits ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE, LIAR LIAR, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, and PATCH ADAMS . His films grossed nearly $2 billion and earned him four People's Choice awards and a ton of money.His 2011 documentary, I AM recounts what happened after a cycling accident left him incapacitated for months. Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged a changed man. In the film, Shadyac meets with a variety of thinkers and doers including David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu - asking what's wrong with society and what can we do make things better?Tom wrote a book, LIFE'S OPERATING MANUAL, which asks whether life comes with a set of guidelines? If so, what are they? And finally, do we have the courage to pay attention and to change? Rather than spoil the plot by telling you his answers, join us for the conversation.