Not too long ago, the United States was a leader in manufacturing, design, and technological development. John Kao hopes we can regain this leadership role and makes the case in his new book “Innovation Nation: How America Is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and How We Can Get It Back” (Free Press, 2007). Kao will be our guest for the hour.
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Mapping the human genome was without a doubt one of the greatest scientific feats of the early 21st Century. We’ll talk this hour with the scientist who did it, J. Craig Venter. He tells the story of this accomplishment and how it intertwines with his own life in the new book “A Life Decoded – My Genome: My Life” (Viking, 2007).
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What makes something scary? We’ll talk with two experts this hour. Jason Henderson is the writer and creator of the “Sword of Dracula” comic series among other projects. Writer S.T. Joshi is an authority on fantasy and H.P. Lovecraft, and has authored several books. He recently edited the collection “American Supernatural Tales” (Penguin Classics, 2007).
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Where is the latest frontier in the global competition for oil? Steve LeVine might suggest that you look to the Caspian Sea region of the former Soviet Union. LeVine, who’ll speak to the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth this evening, will join us this hour to discuss his new book “The Oil and the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea” (Random House, 2007).
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How’s the millennium going? Why not ask famous humor writer Dave Barry? Barry was in town in September for a Fort Worth Star-Telegram event at Bass Hall, and he joined us for the hour to talk about his new book “Dave Barry’s History of the Millennium (So Far)” (Putnam, 2007), his apparent (according to his bio) presidential campaign, and probably anything else that comes up.
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How is the current “war” different from the wars that have come before? According to Alasdair Roberts, professor of public administration in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, the public’s unwillingness to sacrifice is the key difference. He’ll join us this hour to discuss his Foreign Policy Magazine cover story “The War We Deserve.”
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What can we learn from the life of an explorer who died almost seven centuries ago? We’ll spend this hour with Laurence Bergreen, author of “Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu” (Knopf, 2007).
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We’ll talk about the movie business this hour with director Kurt Voelker. Originally from Dallas, Voelker’s new comedy “Park” opens at the Inwood Theatre (in Dallas) this Friday.
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Who is Mitt Romney? We’ll discuss the governor and his transformation to presidential candidate this hour with Harper’s Magazine Washington Editor Ken Silverstein. Silverstein’s November cover story is “Making Mitt Romney: How to Fabricate a Conservative.”
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What role did religion play in the founding of our nation? This highly-debated topic is the subject of Dr. Forrest Church’s new book “So Help Me God: The Founding Fathers and the First Great Battle Over Church and State” (Harcourt, 2007). Church will join us for the hour.
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What makes something a historical artifact and what roles do such artifacts play in our understanding of history? This hour we’ll discuss the 6th Annual Republic of Texas Exhibit with Alan Olson, Collections and Exhibits Director for the Dallas Historical Society. The exhibit is on display at Sterling Bank’s Greenville Avenue location in Dallas until November 9th.
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What does it take to march 1600 miles across one of the most desolate deserts in the world? We’ll spend this hour with adventurer Helen Thayer, whose new book is “Walking the Gobi: A 1,600 Mile-Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair” (The Mountaineers, 2007).
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