That Said With Michael Zeldin

Stevie Van Zandt while, perhaps, best known as a founding member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band and leader of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, he is also a writer, producer, actor (having starred in the Sopranos and Lilyhammer), radio host on Sirius/XM’s Little Steven’s Underground garage, political activist, founder of TeachRock.org, and much more. He is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Join me and Stevie Van Zandt as we discuss his terrific new memoir, Unrequited Infatuations, which traces his odyssey from a teenager in suburban New Jersey to the Rock and Hall of Fame. Guest Stevie Van Zandt's story begins in a bedroom in suburban New Jersey in the early ‘60s, unfolds on some of the country's largest stages, and then ranges across the globe, demonstrating over and over again how Rock and Roll has the power to change the world for the better? This story. The first true heartbeat of UNREQUITED INFATUATIONS is the moment when Stevie Van Zandt trades in his devotion to the Baptist religion for an obsession with Rock and Roll.

Join Michael in his discussion with Cody Keenan as they discuss his book, Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America.  The book recounts the most remarkable eulogy delivered by President Obama in Charleston, South Carolina after the hate crime murders of Reverend Pickney and eight parishioners in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Guest Cody Keenan

Cody Keenan rose from a campaign intern in Chicago and deputy pirate to become chief speechwriter at the White House and Barack Obama’s post-presidential collaborator. He’s been named the “Springsteen” of the Obama White House, even though he can’t play an instrument, and Obama calls him “Hemingway” for reasons that have little to do with his talent or seasonal beard (ask him sometime). Even British GQ once named Cody one of the “35 Coolest Men under 38 (and a Half),” ahead of Ryan Gosling, but behind Tom Hardy.

n truth, Cody is more comfortable behind the scenes, helping to shape the stories of our time. He got his start as a young aide to the legendary senator Edward M. Kennedy before earning a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. A sought-after expert on politics, messaging, and current affairs, he is now a partner at leading speechwriting firm Fenway Strategies and teaches a popular course on political speechwriting to undergraduates at his alma mater Northwestern University. 

Born in Wrigleyville, Cody finally got to write his dream speech just four days before Obama left office—one welcoming the World Champion Chicago Cubs to the White House. To his wife Kristen’s enduring embarrassment, their White House courtship was documented on CNN. Today, they live in New York City with their daughter, Grace.

Join Michael in his conversation with Kevin Sack about his new book Mother Emanuel, Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church which is an epic account of perseverance not just the Mother Emanuel congregation in Charleston, SC but of a people  who withstood enslavement, Jim Crow, and all matter of violence with an unbending faith.

Kevin Sack is a veteran journalist who has written broadly about national affairs for more than four decades and has shared in three Pulitzer Prizes. Sack spent 30 years on the staff of The New York Times, where he was a senior writer. Previously, he worked for the Los Angeles Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Bio

https://www.kevinsack.com/bio

Join Michael in his conversation with Janet Singer Applefield about her new book Becoming Janet, Finding Myself In The Holocaust which tells the story of her survival as a child in Poland during the Holocaust.

Janet is one of the 11% of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust thanks to the kindness of righteous Christians. Since coming to America, Janet earned her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and a Master of Social Work from Boston University and has over 30 years’ experience as a licensed clinical social worker.

Join Michael in his conversation with Professor Alan Dershowitz about his new book The Preventive State, The Challenge of Preventing Serious Harms While Preserving Essential Liberties which articulates a jurisprudence of prevention which endeavors to balance the needs of governments to prevent future harm while balancing the need to protect fundamental civil liberties.

Alan Dershowitz has been litigating, teaching, and writing about law and policy for more than 60 years. He was the youngest tenured professor in the history of Harvard Law School and taught on the Harvard faculty for fifty years as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law. This is his 57th book and his magnum opus.

Join Michael in his conversation with Gareth Gore about his new book, Opus, The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy in the Catholic Church, which documents the rise and secret history of the Opus Dei movement. Gareth is a financial journalist and editor with two decades of experience covering some of the biggest financial stories in over 25 countries.

His writing has been published in Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and International Financing Review. He is the host of The Syndicate, which tells the behind the scenes story of the biggest financial deals in history.

Join Michael in his conversation with Becky Aikman about her new book, Spitfires, The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II which tells the story of the American Women who flew the world’s most dangerous aircraft through the treacherous skies over Great Britain during World War II.

Becky Aikman is the author of two books of narrative nonfiction: her memoir, Saturday Night Widows, and Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge. Aikman worked as a journalist at Newsday and has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She lives in New York.

https://www.beckyaikman.com/books/spitfires

Join Michael in his conversation with Joan Nathan about her fabulous book, My Life in Recipes, Food, Family, and Memories which uses recipes to look back on her life, her family history, and her personal journey discovering Jewish cuisine from around the world.

Joan is the author of twelve cookbooks. Her books have won awards from both the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the James Beard Foundation. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Tablet Magazine and host of the PBS television series Jewish Cooking in America. She was also senior producer of Passover: Traditions of Freedom, an award-winning documentary sponsored by Maryland Public Television.

Joan Nathan

Join Michael in his conversation speaking with Robert Edsel about his new book Remember Us, American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II which follows twelve main characters over a six-year span from 1940-1946 in war-torn Maastricht, Netherlands.

Robert M. Edsel is the New York Times bestselling author of four non-fiction books including The Monuments Men which served as the basis for Academy Award recipient George Clooney’s 2014 film.

Mr. Edsel has received numerous honors including the National Humanities Medal, awarded by President George W. Bush.

He has been honored with the Texas Medal of the Arts; the President’s Call to Service Award; the Hope for Humanity Award, presented by the Dallas Holocaust Museum; and the Foundation for the National Archives’ Records of Achievement Award. 

Mr. Edsel is also the Founder and Chairman of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation.

In this special edition honoring National Cancer Survivors Day, join me in this reissue of my interview journalist Ali Rogin, author of Beat Breast Cancer Like A Boss, and Dr. Felice Gersh, integrative medicine physician, women's health advocate and author.