Shaping Opinion

This is a 100-minute, moment-by-moment telling of the story of September 11th 2001 “As It Happened” and the days that followed. Over the past three years, we’ve interviewed people who were there in New York, at the Pentagon and on site at that farm field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This year, we’ve talked to more people with their own personal stories of 9/11. Each provides a new perspective on the events that changed America, and their reflections now after 20 years.  This episode is part of our special series, "9/11: A Generation Removed."

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/As_It_Happend_at_20.mp3

Release Date: 9/6/21

It is September 11th, 2001. All along the East Coast, the weather couldn’t be nicer. Skies pristinely blue. Temperatures are perfect for an early September day.

Millions are back from vacations and summer breaks. America is going back to work. Back to school. Back to a normal routine.

President George W. Bush starts his day at 6:30 a.m. with his daily run. He’s in Sarasota for an appearance he’s scheduled to make at a nearby elementary school at 9 a.m. Dick Keil is a former college runner and now the White House Correspondent for Bloomberg News. He has the chance to join the president on his run this morning. They talk about anything but politics.

What no one knew but would quickly learn is that this would be no normal day. Everything would change in the coming hours.

19 terrorists from the extremist group al-Qaida were already in the midst of executing a plan to hijack four commercial aircraft and crash those planes into strategic targets.

Those targets were the Pentagon, another site in Washington that no one would fully confirm - but most experts tend to presume it was the U.S. Capitol Building - and the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City.

By 7:30 a.m., all 19 militants are in transit. The airports they will depart from are Logan Airport in Boston, Dulles Airport just outside of Washington, D.C., and Newark Airport. All four flights they will hijack are scheduled to go to California and are packed with enough jet fuel to take them cross-country.

This episode will take you minute by minute through the story of 9/11 through the eyes of eight people who were there, each at a different important location in this moment of history. Along with our eight guests, we include actual recordings of air traffic controllers, dispatchers and the President of the United States from this day. This is a comprehensive narrative of 911: As it Happened.

About 9/11: A Generation Removed

On September 11, 2021, America will mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the country that happened on September 11, 2001. In remembrance of the event, the Shaping Opinion podcast will release a series of nine distinct episodes centered on the 9/11 attacks, starting on Friday, September 3rd and culminating on the 20th Anniversary, September 11, 2021.  The series, entitled, “9/11: A Generation Removed,” will feature six new and original episodes for 2021, and three encore episodes, all based on the personal experiences of guests and stories of people who were there in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

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Retired NYPD detective Chris O’Connor joins Tim to tell his story of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York.  Chris was within walking distance from the World Trade Center when the first plane hit. We talk with Chris about his story and the story of many first responders who continue to live with the after-effects of 9/11.  This episode is an encore presentation as part of our special series, "9/11: A Generation Removed."

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/An_NYPD_Story_at_20.mp3

It’s September 11th, 2001 in one of the busiest cities in the world on a beautiful early fall day. As New Yorkers go about the business of starting another work day, little did they know that 19 terrorists from the extremist group al-Qaida were in the midst of executing a plan to hijack four commercial aircraft and crash those planes into predetermined targets. Among those targets were the Pentagon, another site in Washington that no one would ever confirm, and the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City.

At 8:45 a.m. on that day, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Just less than 20 minutes later, a second aircraft – United Airlines Flight 175 – flew into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Later, American Airlines Flight 77 would crash into the Pentagon.

And finally, just after 10 a.m. that day, United Airlines Flight 93 would crash into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  The passengers on that jet were able to mount an attack of their own on the terrorists to foil their attack on Washington, D.C.

That day marked the worst terrorist attack on the United States in the country’s history. Almost 3,000 people were killed then.  But as you’ll learn today, the real death toll was higher and it continues to grow to this day. The toll that September 11th took on the health of first responders is one that continues to this day.

Chris O’Connor was a plain clothes detective member of the NYPD. What started as a day to appear in court for one of his cases, would change his life.

About 9/11: A Generation Removed

On September 11, 2021, America will mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the country that happened on September 11, 2001. In remembrance of the event, the Shaping Opinion podcast will release a series of nine distinct episodes centered on the 9/11 attacks, starting on Friday, September 3rd and culminating on the 20th Anniversary, September 11, 2021.  The series, entitled, “9/11: A Generation Removed,” will feature six new and original episodes for 2021, and three encore episodes, all based on the personal experiences of guests and stories of people who were there in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Links

* Feal Good Foundation, No Responders Left Behind

* Legislation Allows Unlimited Sick Leave for 9/11 First Responders, Long Island Herald

* Rockville Centre Detective Feels 9/11’s Lasting Effects, Long Island Herald

* 9/11 Memorial and Museum, New York City

* Flight 93 Memorial, National Park Service

* National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

About this Episode’s Guest Chris O’Connor

Chris served in the NYPD as a Police Officer from June of 1995 till No...

Former FBI special agent Bill Crowley joins Tim to discuss his role as the FBI’s lead spokesperson on the scene in Shanksville, Pennsylvania in the days following the Flight 93 hijacking and crash on September 11, 2001. Bill talks about his own role, the crisis communications challenges and takes us back to that time and that place. This episode is an encore presentation as part of our special series, "9/11: A Generation Removed."

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/A_Shanksville_Story_at_20.mp3

It’s been 17 years since America experienced the deadliest terrorist attack in its history. Four commercial jetliners were hijacked by members of al-Qaeda.

The first two jets flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. These were American Airlines Flight 11, and United Airlines Flight 175. Another jet slammed into the western side of the U.S. Pentagon. This was American Airlines Flight 77.

A fourth plane never made it to its intended target. United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It has been widely reported that the terrorist attack failed because the crew and passengers on Flight 93 fought back.

We now know much about what happened on the plane, thanks to cell phone conversations and other data, including the plane’s flight recorder. We also know what happened that morning in other places.

At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 was the first of the planes to hit their target, crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

18 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South tower of the World Trade Center. TV coverage went live and millions were watching. This was before the collapse of the towers.

About 9/11: A Generation Removed

On September 11, 2021, America will mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the country that happened on September 11, 2001. In remembrance of the event, the Shaping Opinion podcast will release a series of nine distinct episodes centered on the 9/11 attacks, starting on Friday, September 3rd and culminating on the 20th Anniversary, September 11, 2021.  The series, entitled, “9/11: A Generation Removed,” will feature six new and original episodes for 2021, and three encore episodes, all based on the personal experiences of guests and stories of people who were there in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Links

* Flight 93 National Memorial, National Parks Service

* Flight 93 and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the forgotten part of 9/11, Time

* In Shanksville, Thousands Gather to Honor Flight 93 Victims, New York Times

* Remembering 9/11 in Pictures – National Geographic

* Bush at War, Amazon, Bob Woodward

About this Episode’s Guest Bill Crowley

A retired special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bill Crowley is an Assistant Professor in La Roche College’s Department of Justice, Law and Security. He is a subject matter expert and consultant to the media in the fields of national security, white collar crime, confidential human sources and police tactics.

He is also an attorney-at-law with a specialized interest in the areas of national security and ...

Captain Bill Toti, a retired Naval officer, joins Tim to discuss his firsthand experiences from the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Bill remembers the attack on the Pentagon moment for moment, and what he did in the immediate aftermath and throughout the recovery. One thing we talk about is how the Pentagon’s story may be the least known in the conversation on 9/11.  This episode is an encore presentation as part of our special series, "9/11: A Generation Removed."

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/A_Pentagon_Story_at_20.mp3

On September 11th, 2001, 19 terrorists from the extremist group al-Qaida hijacked four commercial aircraft and used those planes to carry out suicide attacks against the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and what appears to be a failed attempt to target another Washington, D.C. target.

At 8:45 a.m. on that a clear day, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Eighteen minutes later, a second passenger jet – United Airlines Flight 175 – flew into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

At 9:45 a.m., American Flight 77 would circle over Washington, D.C. before crashing into the west side of the Pentagon, ripping through the outer three of the Pentagon’s four, heavily reinforced and massive rings.

At 10 minutes after 10 that morning, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after it appears the passengers on that jet foiled a terrorist attack on Washington.

At the end of the day, it was the worst terrorist attack on the United States in the country’s history. Almost 3,000 people were killed.

Millions watched events unfold on television, though most of the country’s attention was on New York, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers would collapse on live TV, and where the greatest human losses occurred.

At the Pentagon, 189 military personnel and civilians were killed, including the 64 people aboard American Flight 77.

To this day, less is known about what happened that day at the Pentagon than the stories from New York and Pennsylvania.

Please Thank Our Sponsors

Please remember to thank our sponsors, without whom the Shaping Opinion podcast would not exist.  If you have the need, please support these organizations that have the same taste in podcasts that you do:

* BlueHost Premium Web Hosting

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* Philips Hue Smart Home Lighting

About 9/11: A Generation Removed

On September 11, 2021, America will mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the country that happened on September 11, 2001. In remembrance of the event, the Shaping Opinion podcast will release a series of nine distinct episodes centered on the 9/11 attacks, starting on Friday, September 3rd and culminating on the 20th Anniversary, September 11, 2021.  The series, entitled, “9/11: A Generation Removed,” will feature six new and original episodes for 2021, and three encore episodes, all based on the personal experiences of guests and stories of people who were there in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Links

* 9/11 ‘Inside the Pentagon’ Documentary, PBS

* The Pentagon: Local Naval Officer Details Chaos After Attack, Youngstown Vindicator

*

Author Dean Rotbart joins Tim to talk about how the September 11th terrorist attacks destroyed the main newsroom of the Wall Street Journal, yet the team persevered and found a way to put out a newspaper the next day in defiance of the terrorists. Dean is an author and a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal.  His new book, “September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story,” tells the lesser known tale of what happens when one of the nation’s leading news organizations becomes part of the story.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/They_Couldnt_Stop_the_Journal_auphonic.mp3

On September 11th, 2001, the Wall Street Journal’s main newsroom was located just across the street from the World Trade Center. When those two planes hit the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, every building in the immediate vicinity was impacted.

The building where the Wall Street Journal was located was destroyed by falling debris, fire and smoke.

Editors, reporters, photo journalists were not only an eye-witness to the biggest story of their lifetimes, but they became a part of it. Lines were blurred.

In the end, the Journal and its Dow Jones news teams rose to the occasion.

Keep in mind, many of these people knew others who died in the attacks. They knew families who lost loved ones. This was personal. There’s no way around it.

In the end, the newspaper put its heart and its best work on its front page, publishing a Pulitzer Prize-winning edition the very next day on September 12th.

Dean Rotbart worked in that newsroom years before, and he knew many of the people who worked there that day.

Links

* News Luminaries Project, Dean Rotbart

* September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story (book), by Dean Rotbart

* Book excerpt: As 9/11 turns 20, ‘September Twelfth’ looks at The Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer-winning coverage – Poynter

About this Episode’s Guest Dean Rotbart

Dean Rotbart, chair and editor-in-chief, NewsLuminaries.com (Photo: Avital Rotbart, TimeinaBottlePhotography.com)

Dean Rotbart is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, entrepreneur, and reputation coach. He advises Fortune 500 CEOs, senior communications executives, business owners, professionals, authors, and a wide array of small businesses and charities on strategies to raise their local, national, and global visibility.

Dean is the originator of a series of training workshops, including Newsroom Confidential, Buzz Snatching, and Reputation Tool Chest. He has served on the faculty of the Wizard Academy for more than a decade and was previously a member of the Academy’s board.

Dean and his wife Talya are the founders of NewsBios.com, a popular service that provides in-depth dossiers on the world’s most influential journalists and bloggers. Dean and Talya live in Denver with their two young-adult children, Maxwell and Avital.

 

 

 

Dr. Bob Adams, a former Navy SEAL joins Tim to talk about how a Navy SEAL is made, from what he needs going in, to Hell Week, to the SEALS’ intensive training, and life as a SEAL. Bob also became a medical doctor after his SEAL career, and then joined the US. Army’s elite Delta Force as a medical doctor . In this episode, Bob about the a very specific part of his military history, and that is the storied orientation would-be SEALs have to go through before they can become Navy SEALs. Today we’re going to talk about Hell Week.

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President John F. Kennedy, a former Navy man himself, was the one who established the U.S. Navy SEALs in 1962.

The idea was to create an elite maritime military force to conduct unconventional warfare. Their job was and is to carry out the types of clandestine, small-unit, high-impact missions that large forces cannot do.

SEALs also conduct on-the-ground reconnaissance of strategic targets that may then be attacked by larger forces.

Usually, what helps distinguish Navy SEAL operations is that they start and end in or near a body of water, like a river, the ocean, a swamp or a coastline.

Navy SEALs train to operate in all environments, on land and in the sea. They often work in climate extremes. From the desert to the arctic, to the jungle.

Not everyone who wants to be a Navy SEAL gets to be one. You have to earn it, and to do that, you start by going through one of the toughest weeks in your life. The Navy SEALs call it, “Hell Week.”

Hell Week is held the third week of the first phase of SEAL training. It consists of 5 and ½ days of cold, wet, brutally difficult operational training on less than four hours of sleep.

If you go through Hell Week, you are tested for your physical endurance, your mental toughness, your ability to endure pain and cold, your teamwork, your attitude and your ability to perform work under high physical and mental stress. You’re sleep-deprived. But ultimately, it’s your determination, your will and your desire that are tested.

Only one-fourth of those who start Hell week make it to the end of those five and ½ days. One out of every four trainees survive Hell week and go on in their training to become SEALs.

Bob Adams was a Navy SEAL. When he thinks of Hell Week, there are some things he never forgets.

Links

* Six Days of Impossible, SEALHellWeek.com

* How I Narrowly Survived Navy SEAL Hell Week, SOFREP.com

* Colonel Robert Adams, MD, Swords and Seals

* Six Days of Impossible: SEAL Hell Week - A Doctor Looks Back, by Robert Adams, Barnes & Noble

* Navy SEALS Official Site, NavySEALS.com

About this Episode's Guest Bob Adams

Colonel Robert Adams, MD is a US Naval Academy graduate who served thirty-six years in the Navy and Army as a Navy SEAL, the DELTA Force Command Surgeon, and an Army family medicine physician (with obstetrics). Wake Forest Medical School, then an Army residency at Madigan Army Medical center in Tacoma, Washington was followed by service with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. After the military he built a thriving private practice in North Carolina where he won numerous awards for clinical excellence and practiced for 13 more years, retiring in 2020.

Dr. Lori Buzzetti joins Tim to talk about one of the most magical stories of all time, one we all think we know, but it’s amazing what we don’t. Lori is a board-certified physician in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has served in private practice, and at a large medical center, where she was on the teaching faculty. Today, she is the founder and president of a nonprofit organization that serves expectant mothers called So Big. In this episode we’re going to talk about one of the most basic questions you can think of. What actually happens in those nine months before we meet our babies?

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We all have our own understandings of how babies are made based on what we may have read, or been told, or been taught in health class. And of course, based on our own experience as mothers … and as fathers. Or as family members.

Today, we’re going to assume none of that. We’re going to start with a clean slate, and walk through the most amazing journey on the planet with someone who knows.

We’re going to learn about the baby. Just the baby. Not the mom, not the dad, and not so much the pregnancy per se. Just the baby.

Please Thank Our Sponsors

Please remember to thank our sponsors, without whom the Shaping Opinion podcast would not exist.  If you have the need, please support these organizations that have the same taste in podcasts that you do:

* BlueHost Premium Web Hosting

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Links

* So Big, (Lori's nonprofit organization website)

* LynLeee Hope, Meet the Baby Who Was Born Twice, 'For Every Mom' Blog

* Extreme Preemie Born at 21 Weeks Young at Emory Decatur Hospital, Fox 5 Atlanta

* Pregnancy Week by Week, Mayo Clinic

About this Episode’s Guest Dr. Lori Buzzetti

Dr. Lori Buzzetti is the founder and President of a nonprofit organization called So Big, which serves expectant mothers.

So Big has established one Mountain House maternity home in Indiana with plans to expand in the near future. These homes would help expectant mothers meet their basic needs and connect with other programs that also serve pregnant women in need. Joining forces with others that have similar passion and goals will help us reach the women and children we want to serve and to do it more effectively. In the end it's about giving hope. It's about sharing God's love.

She is married to Dr. Tony Buzzetti, with a daughter, Tessa and a son, Jake. They attend Traders Point Christian Church.

She has a B.S. in Biochemistry from Iowa State University and M.D. from the University of Iowa.

She completed her training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Indiana University Medical Center.

She is Board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a former private practitioner on the south-side of Indianapolis. She is formerly employed by St. Vincent Hospital where she was a member of the teaching faculty and adminis...

Pamela Whitenack, Director Emeritus of the Hershey Community Archives, joins Tim to talk about the story behind Hershey, the iconic candy brand, the company and the small town in Pennsylvania, all the vision of one man, Milton S. Hershey. This episode is an Encore Presentation of another one of our listeners’ favorite episodes. It was originally released on April 22, 2019.

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If I were to say the word “Hershey,” to you, most likely the first thing you would picture is that iconic American chocolate bar. But there’s a story behind that candy bar that all starts with one man who never allowed his failures to have the last word.

In the end, he would succeed at the highest levels of business, live a long life and leave a community legacy that continues to this day. In this episode, we talk about Milton Hershey and the Hershey story.

Milton Hershey – Pre-Chocolate Bar

He was born on September 13th, 1857. Lived in Central Pennsylvania in the village of Derry Church.

It wouldn’t be long before he was earning a living, quitting his formal education around the age of 13 to serve an apprenticeship.

When he was 18 years-old, Milton opened his own candy shop in Philadelphia, but that lasted 6 years and he had to close it after making some poor business decisions.

He then moved to Denver where he worked with a caramel manufacturer and learned how to make caramel with a unique recipe that included fresh milk. After less than a year he went to New York City to start wholesale business, and makes another poor business decision on leases that causes that business to fail.

At that point, he decides to return to Pennsylvania and launch the Lancaster Caramel Company.

He builds that business into the leading national Caramel company and by 1900 was able to sell that business for $1 million. The modern-day equivalent to roughly $1 billion.

Milton Discovers Chocolate

In 1893, Milton attends the Chicago International Exposition and sees a demonstration of German chocolate-making machinery

He bought the equipment and began making chocolate-coated caramels. . Chocolate became a secondary business to caramels throughout the 1890s.

In 1903, Milton Hershey builds a mammoth and modern candy-making factory in Derry Church. It opened in 1905. At the same time, he designs a model community to serve as the town for his employees, which would become, Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The town featured brick and wood-frame homes, treelined streets with sidewalks, churches, retail and recreational facilities and parks.

Milton Hershey School and Philanthropy

Milton and Catherine Hershey, who did not have children of their own, decide to create the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned boys, which opened in 1909. Today, that school is known as the Milton S. Hershey School. Boys and girls attend.

In 1918, three years after Catherine died unexpectedly, Milton Hershey transferred much of his wealth – the company to the Hershey Trust, which funds the Hershey School.

Chronology & Legacy

* 114 products in 1896.

* 1900 – the Hershey Bar

* 1907 – Hershey Kisses

* 1908 – Included almonds in Hershey Bar

* 1925 – Included peanuts in Hershey Bar for product called Mr. Goodbar

* 1938 – Krackel Bar

Milton Hershey died at 88 in 1945.  The Hershey Company is one of the leading candy makers in the world with a portfolio of iconic brands.  A partial list of other Hershey brands includes:

* Reese’s

* York Peppermint Patty

* Twizzlers

* Good and Plenty

* Cadbury and Rolo in North America

Milton Hershey School serves 1,

Charles Lipson joins Tim to talk about the current place China has on the world stage and what this means to America. He’s Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he has taught international relations and studied international cooperation and conflict with an emphasis on political aspects of the global economy. He’s also authored books and has been a regular contributor to major academic journals and news publications.

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In the long history of the world, China is recognized as one of the first civilizations on the planet.  Long before there were terms like “super power,” China was a leading economic power for thousands of years.

Politically, for most of that time, monarchies ruled the country.

In the 20th Century, that all changed when the country officially became the People’s Republic of China under a communist political structure.

To give you an idea of its size, the China we know today holds a population of 1.4 billion people, who are ruled by the Communist Party of China. The country spans give geographical time zones and it borders 14 other countries.

To provide context, the China we know today became known as the People’s Republic of China after a civil war in 1949. The Communist Party of China took control and still remains in power.

Communist party chairman Mao Zedon became China’s new leader at that time.

Two months later, two million soldiers followed the former Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan. That’s where he created a provisional government which he said was the legitimate ruling body of China.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, China had been a largely agricultural economy. To industrialize China, Mao imposed a commune system and prohibited farming. This was called “the great leap forward.”

The plan was a disaster. There was famine that led to 56 million dead. Three million of those were so desperate they committed suicide.

In 1966, Mao created what he called the Cultural Revolution to get rid of capitalism and traditional Chinese influences on the country. He created the philosophy called Mao-ism to replace long-standing ideologies.

He closed schools, and Chinese youths were charged with leading change.

There were youth gangs called the Red Guards who attacked citizens they deemed unacceptable. After a period of terrible unrest, the country instituted martial law and a purge of 1.5 million citizens.

Throughout this timeline, America was in the midst of a Cold War with Communist China and the Soviet Union. The countries were building up their nuclear arms stockpiles and the threat of total global devastation was very real and ever-present.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon eased some of those tensions by visiting China for the first time. This was the first diplomatic meeting between leaders of China and the United States since 1949.  Nixon met with Mao, and discussed trade between the two countries, along with U.S. troop withdrawal from Taiwan.

In 1976, Mao died, putting an effective end the Cultural Revolution. It’s estimated that during his reign, his Communist China killed 40 million people.

His successor was Deng Xiaoping who led the country for the next 20 years.

Fast forward to July of 1997 when Britain returned Hong Kong to China after British colonialization of that country for 156 years. China agreed that it would keep Hong Kong’s economic capitalism as part of the deal.

Eleven years ago, China and Taiwan started to engage in discussions for the first time. Five years ago, in 2016, China rescinded its commitment to that relationship.

Today,

Abe Unger joins Tim to talk about the current state of liberal arts schools, how he says many are failing and how to turn things around. He’s got some concrete ideas and some real-life, proven examples of how it can work pretty quickly. Abe is the Director of Urban Programs and Associate Professor of Government and Politics at Wagner College and the Executive Director of the Gender Equity Network.

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It wasn’t that long ago that I remember taking both of my kids on tours of the Northeast looking at colleges. Having two kids with different interests allowed me to see a cross-section of schools, from Ivy League institutions to small private, state and public colleges.

In the course of the many tours, some of the recruiting language was pretty standard. But every now and then, you’d really start to see the difference between one college and the next.

I’m a Liberal Arts grad myself. My majors were journalism and rhetoric. I attended a university that was more than a liberal arts college, though its own liberal arts school was on a par with any stand-alone liberal arts college.

But as a parent, I found myself wondering about something I don’t remember thinking about as a high school senior. Return on investment. Will my kids have careers after college that justify the expense of those four years in school?

Each of my kids chose different paths, but both were able to land in careers that they never would have anticipated that freshman year.

This was on my mind recently, when I read an article from professor Abe Unger on this very issue. He wrote a piece for The James Martin Center for Academic Renewal called, “Why Liberal Arts Colleges Are Failing and How to Revive Them.”

Links

* Dr. Abraham Unger, Wagner College

* Why Liberal Arts Colleges Are Failing and How to Revive Them, James Martin Center

* Manhattan School of Music

About this Episode’s Guest Abe Unger

Abe Unger spent over a decade as Director of Urban Programs and as a professor, with tenure, in the Department of Government and Politics at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York City. He is now Executive Director of the Gender Equity Network. Dr. Unger received his Bachelor's of Music from the Manhattan School of Music in classical guitar, and his MA and Ph.D. from Fordham University in political science. He is the author of numerous articles, many of which are on Higher Ed reform, and 3 books on urban economic development and public policy.