Read Carlin Romano’s piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Obama, Philosopher in Chief” (via aldaily). The article includes a number of useful references for further study (if you haven’t read them already). Adding to Obama’s speech in Cairo (as well as at Buchenwald and Omaha Beach), here are some key books mentioned: Kwame Anthony Appiah, [...]
Tagged as: barack obama, books, conversation, cosmopolitanism, dialog, leadership, openness, philosophy, politics, pragmatism
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I won’t get into preaching here. I think we each oughta be responsible for finding our own heroes and moral exemplars (if that’s not already being too preachy of me). Unfortunately even that might not even be within easy reach. There’s an article in the March Weekly Standard called “The Age of Irresponsibility” by Matthew [...]
Tagged as: barack obama, elitism, heroes, jacques barzun, moral exemplars, morality, politics, populism, role models
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by Brian on 12-24-2008
Continued from Social and Creative Capital in London, Orchestra Edition. I meant to address the issue of Rib-Fest and the future of festivals in London but I had to cut that one off: I ended up spending a lot more time talking about the arts than I meant to. I wasn’t going to write anything tonight [...]
Tagged as: barack obama, blogging, collaboration, community, creative city, creativity, gardening, innovation, insight, london, social capital, summer festivals
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I’m starting this post without an opinion about bankruptcy vs. bailout for GM et al. In all honesty, I’m prepared for the worst either way — though I’m somewhat less inclined to oppose letting them fail (keeping in mind that bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily mean going out of business). GM hasn’t exactly exemplified itself as a great [...]
Tagged as: auto industry, bailout, bankruptcy, barack obama, gm, toyota
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Watching the elated crowd in Grant Park celebrating Obama’s victory the other night activated my skeptics’ gland: “Could Obama’s actual presidency be anything other than disappointing after this?” Megan McArdle expressed the same concern, pointing out that many people aren’t just enthusiastic in a vague or emotional way but explicitly look forward to some impossible [...]
Tagged as: barack obama, politics
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I probably won’t be blogging much tonight — part of my all ’round winding down to focus on other things — but in case anyone drops by, here’s my Barack Obama endorsement, written in the wee hours after his acceptance speech way back when. You can also read my thoughts on John McCain and Sarah Palin. All of it [...]
Tagged as: barack obama, election, john mccain
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On Charlie Rose, again: a great conversation with Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen, and James Downey, about what it takes to write, produce, and perform Saturday Night Live — which is as popular and influential as ever. Lot’s of discussion on political humour, impersonations, and how politicians themselves feel about them. One interesting takeaway is the [...]
Tagged as: barack obama, comedy, fred armisen, sarah palin, saturday night live, snl, tv
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Yet another factor that’s contributing to massive changes in our world: Gen We. Demography has interested me since way back when I read Boom, Bust & Echo in high school (it was one of the only books I read in high school), but this newest generation is really getting fascinating…
Tagged as: baby boom, barack obama, change, demographics, future, generation we, generation x, generation y
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