C-SPAN Bookshelf

Since its founding in 1992, the Innocence Project has been responsible for getting hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the United States out of prison. Attorney and Innocence Project executive director Christina Swarns joins us to talk about the history of the organization, the root causes of wrongful convictions, and some of the clients the Innocence Project has successfully represented over the years, including the two men convicted of killing of Malcolm X in 1965. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Puzder, former CEO of CKE Restaurants, took a critical look at stakeholder capitalism, which he argues is a form of socialism that will hurt the middle and lower classes in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an earlier conversation in this series, Evan Thomas discussed his 1986 book, "The Wise Men." There were 6 of them: Messrs. Acheson, Bohlen, Harriman, McCloy, Lovett, and Kennan. In this episode, we asked Edward "Ted" Aldrich to discuss his book titled "The Partnership: George Marshall, Henry Stimson, and the Extraordinary Collaboration That Won World War II." Mr. Aldrich writes: "FDR paired Stimson, as Secretary of War, with Gen. George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army, in the summer of 1940 in anticipation of the global war into which all three men knew the United States could shortly be drawn." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York City real estate developer Larry Silverstein, author of "The Rising," shares stories about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center complex following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Silverstein - who acquired a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center just weeks before the attacks - talks about his memories from that day and discusses the business, political, and engineering challenges he faced during his 20-year rebuilding effort.        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Economist and investment advisor James Rickards spoke about the potential threats that AI poses to the global economy and national security. He was interviewed by George Mason University Distingushed University Professor J.P. Singh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James M. Bradley's biography of Martin Van Buren is the first full-scale portrait of the 8th president in 4 decades. Mr. Bradley is co-editor of the Martin Van Buren papers and teaches in the public history program at the State University of New York at Albany. In his introduction, he writes: "As this biography will show, reaching the nation's highest office was not Van Buren's greatest achievement. He built and designed the party system that defined how politics was practiced and power wielded in the United States." Van Buren is known as the principal founder of the Democratic Party.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty-five years ago, author Malcolm Gladwell published "The Tipping Point," about how ideas and behavior spread in a society to create positive change. The book was an international bestseller, having since sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone. In his follow-up, "Revenge of the Tipping Point," Mr. Gladwell looks at the downside of social epidemics, including the rise of opioid abuse and Medicare fraud.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist T.J. English spoke about the rise and fall of "Los Muchachos," one of the most successful cocaine empires in U.S. history. He was interviewed by author and Brookings Institution senior fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well-Read Black Girl founder Glory Edim discussed the book club she began in 2015 to celebrate black, brown and indigenous women. She also discussed her latest book, "Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books that Saved Me." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A book called "The Wise Men" was first published in 1986. The cover copy says that "it was about six friends and the world they made." The names Harriman, Lovett, Acheson, McCloy, Kennan, and Bohlen are only to be found in the history books today. Co-authors Evan Thomas and Walter Isaacson were in their mid-thirties. In the updated 2012 introduction to the paperback, they wrote: "In their time, the wise men operated largely behind the scenes, little known by the public, but they achieved great things." According to Thomas and Isaacson, those great things included the shaping of the world order today, the creation of international institutions, and the forging of lasting peace in a perilous time. We asked Evan Thomas, now in his 70s: Who are the wise men of today? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices