Finally, the Podcast from Fertik

John Palfrey is the President of the MacArthur Foundation, a former Harvard Law School Professor and Head of School at the legendary Phillips Academy Andover high school. A celebrated educator, lifelong student of our national civic life, and special expert in digital subjects such as copyright, Palfrey shares his perspective on the crisis in American politics, in higher education, and in secondary education. He also confides in our audience with respect to his (objectively incorrect) first choice in pizza slice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

Larry Tribe is widely regarded as the greatest American constitutionalist not to sit on the United States Supreme Court. In this touchingly personal interview, he tells us of his upbringing, of his parents, of their relationship, of his birth in Shanghai and of his maturation in intellectual curiosity and kindness. He also offers insight on his former students President Barack Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts; on his fateful decision in 1987 to testify against Robert Bork’s SCOTUS nomination; on the nexus of that decision with then-Senator Joe Biden; on his first-ever Supreme Court argument and its moving connection to his own father; on his current feelings about Jewishness and Israel; and on what he perceives are the dangerous storm clouds of fascism now gathering across the Western world. Laurence Tribe is 82 years old. There may never be another such interview in his lifetime. Join me in learning from this gentle legend. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

Oren Falkowitz is an unusual figure. The founder and longtime CEO of Area 1 Security, which sold to Cloudflare and created wealth for him and his shareholders, moved back to Washington, D.C., from Silicon Valley because he felt something was amiss in the California startup landscape, and it wasn’t just the lackluster restaurant culture. This is not a typical story of a founder who made it and celebrates his experience. Nor is it a typical story of a founder who didn’t make it and gripes. This is the story of a founder who succeeded but is willing to share, on the record, some of his hard-earned ‘lessons learned,’ including the stories of dynamics on the board of directors that did not … quite … operate … the way he would have wanted. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

Pano Kanelos is one of the very most important public intellectuals in America today. He is the Founding President of the University of Austin, a past President of St. Johns, a touchstone of Liberal Arts education, a noted Shakespeare scholar, and a passionate cook of Hellenic cuisine. Listen to hear his vision of what modern life in America, and what higher education, can and should be. Join me for one of the most wide-ranging and fascinating conversations in the history of the Finally podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

Sara Mauskopf is a successful Founder and CEO in Silicon Valley. A devoted entrepreneur, wife, and mom of three, she was faced with her husband’s surprise cancer diagnosis shortly after the birth of their first child. More lately, Sara, who has spent years championing diversity and inclusion, has found herself shocked by the silence and even antisemitism and anti-Israel posture of the “hard left.” We catch her at a time of introspection and reflection. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

What is actually happening on America’s college campuses? Is free speech equally curtailed by the Left and the Right? What about in K-12? In this interview with Lukianoff, a left-wing lion and advocate of what he calls the six (not five!) rights ensconced in the First Amendment, we learn how he arrived at his startling conclusions, what the seminal moments were in Cancel Culture, some peculiarities of Connecticut, the impact of the decline in Gifted and Talented K-12 programs, the freedom of association case he thinks FIRE ought to have won, and the impossibility of choosing among his precious children and pizzas. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

Michael Fertik interviews Steven Fox, the Artistic Director of New York’s Clarion Choir, Music Direct or the Washington National Cathedral, and one of the world’s most celebrated conductors of his generation. This is a very intimate interview with Grammy-nominated. We address music, politics, perfectionism, where inspiration comes from in the arts, the happiness and unhappiness of the artist and of performance, the book Steven read thirty years ago that continues to be instructive, the classical compositions and manuscripts he (re)discovered during his life, his lengthy experience in Russia over twenty years ago and what it tells him about Putin, and if, ever, he has time to be silly. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

In this candid interview, Nancy Jacobson addresses head-on the criticism that No Labels is going to be an unintentional spoiler in 2024, the three proposed methods by which the exact composition of a No Labels Presidential ticket will be decided, why she’s against Trump, her preferred cream cheese, whether she has a problem with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and her belief that her efforts have recently come under pressure from a secretive, wealthy left-wing cabal she believes is influenced by a mysterious entity known as Arabella. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com

In this personal and revealing interview, Bill Browder and I cover the very intimate story of his persecution by Vladimir Putin's government, what exactly happened to Sergei Magnitsky, his real opinion of Elon Musk, where he thinks Putin will be in ten years, Bill’s preferred pizza slice, and the signal time when, a decade ago, I witnessed a death threat leveled against him in public by an extremely senior Russian official at a conference we both attended. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelfertik.substack.com