Grey Matter with Michael Krasny

We spent a recorded hour with esteemed journalist and editor Perry Garfinkel, author of the bestselling Buddha or Bust and the recently published Becoming Gandhi. Perry spoke of his quest to find morality in Gandhi's life and work and Gandhi's six principles and the differences between being and becoming – the latter presupposing the infinite in practice. Perry spoke of the Mahatma's lack of understanding of his own sexuality as well as his belief in goodness, which Perry labeled "pollyannaish." He was able to mix criticism of Gandhi and his principles, including naivete about social violence in man's nature and less sophistication in Gandhi than in the Buddha, with high respect for Gandhi's deep understanding of human suffering and the need for compassion and empathy with an enduring belief in passive resistance as a means to change. Perry spoke of religious differences in India and Gandhi's letters to Hitler, which went unanswered, and the media's overplay of an incident involving the Dalai Lama, who wrote the foreword to Perry's book, and a young boy. Michael and Perry also discuss the efficacy in today's world of passive resistance and links to Thoreau and Martin Luther King, as well as fasting and the impact of Richard Attenborough's famous film about the Mahatma and the Mahatma's essential twin pillars of truth and non-violence. Perry concluded by calling himself a cynic by profession but one who felt heartened as a result of being changed by studying Gandhi and striving to be "Perry 2.0."

This week we spoke with author Amy Tan about her most recent best-seller, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a fascinating immersion into nature, the world of birds and her dedication to drawing them. In 2016 during a time of overt racism, especially towards Asian Americans, Amy decided to dive into nature journaling. There she discovered a fascination for birds and approached this world as a novelist, these were her characters. When she drew a bird she imagined she was the bird- trying to understand its intentions. We talked to Amy about this discovery of her characters and how they all bring their unique personalities to her backyard bird cafe. The result of her approach leads us on a magical journey. This is a delightful hour for birders and bird lovers as well as those who simply want to learn more about our flying feathered friends.

A deep and wide ranging conversation with sociologist Jessica Calarco, focusing on educational disparities, class privilege, and social inequities. Key topics included the hidden curriculum in schools, the role of community colleges, and tax policies aimed at economic equality. The conversation began with a focus on the gap between the privileged and the marginalized and the differences in class and race and what the research reveals as well as the question of the effect of inequities on immigrants, the ongoing influence of neoliberal Austrian economists beginning during the New Deal emerged as did the role of tech inequities in education. Charter schools were discussed in the context of inequities and so was the role of patriarchy and the need for a diverse educational workforce and overemphasis on ivy league schools. Professor Calarco also spoke of how she conducts her research and the role of both trade schools and community colleges. She critiqued corporate profit motives, worker exploitation, and the decline of labor unions, proposing policy measures like access to essential services and equitable care responsibilities. She also spoke of the consequences on education of Citizens United and provided Insights on paid leave and work-hour limits, with a preview of future research on evangelical Christianity's impact on social safety nets. She concluded with three core changes in policy to pursue to reduce inequities.

Ethan Elkind, a leading climate scientist, led us initially into an understanding of why climate goals were not being met and how that affects overall messaging. From there he spoke of the importance of battery technology, solar and wind renewable energies, and transition to minerals such as lithium, cobalt and graphite. He emphasized the need for care in the mining sector where he sees a window for change and the building of better grids. We then spoke of "lifestyle" changes, the need for more housing and a culture too centered on cars. Ethan spoke about desalination and water and the issue of equity vis-à-vis the carbon imprint of developing countries. Ethan emphasized the importance of addressing climate problems systemically via low carbon biofuels and policy actions. He spoke of AI as being bad for climate but expressed optimism about hydrogen and the progress made in renewables. He addressed the killing nature of heat and stated that air conditioning will become a human right and he suggested other ways around heat but noted the inevitability of fewer habitable places and mass migration. He spoke of L.A. as a leader of mass transit and highlighted the need for a different tax policy and the fact that mangroves matter and corruption in the battery supply chain remains an ongoing problem. Food waste was added as a big issue because of methane. Ethan said, "We can buy a couple of decades if we decrease methane emissions but there is a lot to do." We talked about the Native American non-profit he started and his work with tribes to improve governance. We concluded with discussing environmental work having triage to it and asking what Ethan would advise students. Ethan answered with "Do what you feel most passionate about and match it up to the most urgent needs."

Aimee Allison, Founder of She the People, joined us to talk about the Kamala Harris presidential nomination and the increased and increasing role of women of color in U.S. key positions of political power. We spoke of political organizer, Georgia's Stacey Abrams, as well as the defeat of squad members Cori Bush in a Missouri primary and Jamaal Bowman in Queens, and the significant role of AIPAC in both losses. We discussed Trump's response to Black journalists which Allison described as "deeply racist" and, she added, it "made him look like an idiot." We focused on voting in Georgia and also in Rwanda, where 60% of women make up government representation as well as discussing how patriarchy is baked into the American political system. Allison posited that America's time to shift from patriarchy has come –women leaders of color, like Kamala Harris, are here and are ready to assume and hold positions of power. She praised the choice by Vice President Harris of Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate and took the position that many of the negative characterizations of Vice President Harris have emerged from racist tropes and misogyny. She then addressed ways to make Black girls our next leaders and spoke of Shirley Chisholm's extraordinary influence on her and other young women of color and her experiences as a young woman in the military who eventually applied for conscientious objector status. We then took up the question of breaking chains and making things better for generations to come. Emphasizing the necessity of remembering a powerful tradition, Allison said, "Remember Sojourner Truth and the godmothers who came before us and opened up spaces with love." She concluded by speaking of the need for humane immigration reform, which she hoped would emerge under Kamala Harris's leadership and a new political era which she believes November's election in the U.S. can bring.

Stanford Business School Lecturer, author and host of the popular podcast Think Fast/Talk Smart joined us for an inspired and inspiring hour on overcoming public speech anxiety and communicating effectively. Matt spoke of the importance of focusing on value and being conversational as well as having a map and structure. He talked about deep breathing, holding something cold and "greeting anxiety" as well as how his own career began with anxiety over a speech he had to give at the age of fourteen. He touched on the importance of connection and mindset, as well as responding to hecklers, pattern recognition and framing. The conversation moved to the importance of listening well, including, as Matt put it, to what's not being said. Michael brought up being what he called "riff ready" and Matt highlighted the importance of stockpiling stories and anecdotes and building trust and rapport. Matt and Michael were laying out a foundation, a primer for optimal communication and their conversation moved on to the importance of curiosity and the uses of AI. A listener asked about what to say during a job interview and another listener wanted to know how best to use slides for presentations and Matt provided answers as well as focusing on how stress can be of value and the importance and value of paraphrasing and visualization. The dialogue wound up with focus on implications for primary education, Matt's podcast, Think Fast, Talk Smart. Michael brought in the Roman poet Horace, who identified the purposes of literature as teaching and entertaining, and concluded "it's the same for speeches."

Popular PBS Interviewer and New York Times best-selling author Kelly Corrigan sat down with Michael Krasny to talk about a wide range of topics including her experiences decades ago as Professor Krasny's student as well as her views on interviewing. She spoke of her interviews ("A lot like a date and full of emotion") with Francis Collins; Jennifer Garner; David Byrne; Bryan Stevenson and Judd Apatow and delved into the question of why do good and the problem of what media buyers want as well as the importance of positivity and humor. She then spoke of her Ted talk and her children and the recent shocking revelations about Nobel prize winning Canadian author Alice Munro ignoring her daughter's molestations by Munro's second husband. She talked about the importance of forgiveness to save oneself and about her mother, daughters and husband and his mother. She also reflected on wellness and how to pursue it and, calling herself "a person who loves the afflicted," she spoke of the heartbreak of too many around us afflicted with unhappiness. She opined that taxes could solve the problem of poverty and the conversation concluded with her speaking about how and why she became a writer. A terrific, enlightening and fun conversation between two masterful interviewers.

Pulitzer prize winning journalist and economics and tax expert David Cay Johnston spoke with us about his long and extensive investigative research on former U.S. president Donald Trump as well as the state of the U.S. economy during the Trump and Biden presidencies. Johnston spoke critically of news organizations, especially of what he characterized as their inability to cover Trump as "a con artist" and three generations of white collar criminality of the family of the man who now wields control over the Republican party. Johnston labeled Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance a man of no moral principles, and went on to talk about the abortion issue, Project 2025, trickle down economics, former President Trump as "an asset to the Russian government, not an agent," and Trump tower as a place once full of mobsters and a casino under Trump's apartment. Johnston accused U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland of poor judgement in waiting too long to appoint a special prosecutor. We discussed the four cases set against former president Trump and Johnston distinguished the difference between a pardon and clemency and spoke of the IRS as "tax police" as well as why many Americans appear to approve of Trump not paying any taxes. We concluded with Johnston talking about his only appearance, with no return invitation, on the Rachel Maddow's TV show and a story, set in Lansing, Michigan, of one of the few times he felt, as an investigative reporter, he was wrong.

Acclaimed actor, famed narrative voice and Zen Buddhist priest Peter Coyote joined us in a far reaching dialogue which took in his acting and voice careers as well as his life and his life philosophy and sharp edged political views. We spoke, too, about the content in his latest book, Zen in the Vernacular and his early, preeminent family influences and the shaping influences of the Diggers, as well as his heroin addiction and his radical political beliefs and faith in what he calls radical optimism and the four noble truths of Buddhism. He named those he believes deserve to be called our greatest actors, told all about of his first meeting with Ken Burns and spoke of the inequity of wealth and CEO salaries as well as Paul Weyrich's Christian nationalist film "Bad Faith" and the infamous Lewis Powell memo. He described the U.S. presidential race as democracy versus autocracy and the rise of Trump politically as the product of a sixty year struggle. We concluded with him speaking about his name change to Coyote and defining the Buddhist concept of dharma. Time well spent with a fascinating man of many accomplishments and strong views on politics and our essential connectedness.

Leading New York Times writer and best-selling author Frank Bruni joined us for an in-depth discussion of his most recent book The Age of Grievance which focuses on American culture's fall into pessimism and the binary world of choosing sides, tribalism, and the pressing need for compromise and common ground. It is somewhat global (as with Brexit) but largely an American phenomenon of a scale never imagined and at the center, says Bruni, is ugly politics. Though more consequential and perilous from the right than from the left, there are grievance merchants and grievance entrepreneurs on both sides and Bruni went into an example on the left side of the political spectrum of the use of identity politics with Brittany Greiner and on the right with the power of Donald Trump. Though originally all about social connection, social media makes all of it worse and creates disconnection. Bruni, a Duke journalism professor, also emphasized the role of the media in exacerbating the pervasive sense of grievance and he spoke of geographic sorting after the Dobbs abortion decision being like social media. He spoke, too, of the power of consumers and the need for more open and non-partisan primaries, ranked-choice voting, and overall moderation and major change in both political and civil culture, including a deeper recognition of the common good and how our welfare is bound together as citizens. We concluded with talk about whether he missed being a restaurant or movie critic, his feelings about being a gay professor, Seinfeld's appearance at Duke, and the extent of emphasis in academia on trigger warnings. A fascinating discussion with one of the nation's leading and most respected thinkers.