Taking the Hill

Sometime in the next few weeks, Congress and the White House will descend into the labyrinthine politics of comprehensive health care reform. For Barack Obama, this signals the end, in a sense, of the eventful prologue to his presidency.

Author: Matt Bai
Published: Jun 2, 2009
Length: 32 minutes (8,208 words)

The Failed Promise of Innovation in the U.S.

During the past decade, innovation has stumbled. And that may help explain America’s economic woes

Source: Businessweek
Published: Jun 3, 2009
Length: 12 minutes (3,145 words)

The Bankruptcy of General Motors: A Giant Falls

The collapse of General Motors into bankruptcy is only the latest chapter in a long story of mismanagement and decline

Source: Economist
Published: Jun 4, 2009
Length: 10 minutes (2,550 words)

The Coming Bioattack

Microbes have brought down more empires than bombs, and pose a greater terroristic threat. Stephan Talty, author of The Illustrious Dead, describes how the coming germ attack could unfold.

Source: Daily Beast
Published: Jun 5, 2009
Length: 5 minutes (1,426 words)

Why No More 9/11s?

Amid the many uncertainties loosed by the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, one forecast seemed beyond doubt: Islamist terrorists would strike the United States again—and soon. “Ninety days at the most,” said counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv. On Oct. 5, 2001, an unnamed senior intelligence official told Congress, in a private briefing, that there was a “100 percent” chance of another terrorist attack should the U.S. invade Afghanistan, as it did two days later. “An attack is predictable now whether we retaliate against Afghanistan or not,” reasoned House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., agreed: “You can just about bet on it.” #Sept11

Source: Slate
Published: Mar 5, 2009
Length: 44 minutes (11,062 words)

Tiananmen Story

It was so frustrating. It was early May, 1989 and I was in Tokyo reporting the financial markets for Reuters, fiddling around journalistically with the peak of the Japanese bubble economy. Meanwhile in China, cataclysmic events were unfolding and I wasn’t there. I really wanted to get back to see it and live it.

Source: Earnshaw.com
Published: Jun 28, 2009
Length: 39 minutes (9,771 words)

Transcript: Remarks of President Obama in Cairo

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Source: Fox News
Published: Jun 4, 2009
Length: 23 minutes (5,848 words)

How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live

Source: Time
Published: Jun 5, 2009
Length: 13 minutes (3,473 words)

Boy in the Bubble

One of the hardest parts of having your show cancelled is the part BEFORE it’s cancelled, when it’s “on the bubble”. The absolute hardest part of that, besides the phrase “on the bubble,” is everyone gets it in their head that you actually know what’s happening with your show and you’re just not telling them. No one believes the show’s fate is in the air, they believe the fate’s been decided, you know the fate, but you’re just not sharing it with anybody.

Author: Josh
Published: Jun 4, 2009
Length: 7 minutes (1,961 words)

America’s Islam Anxiety in Egypt and Beyond: Exclusive Excerpt

On the eve of President Obama’s speech on the subject of his new book, Engaging the Muslim World, a leading historian and influential blogger offers an in-depth breakdown of Muslim activism and Muslim radicalism.

Author: Juan Cole
Source: Esquire
Published: Jun 28, 2009
Length: 7 minutes (1,882 words)