http://newsdesk.tjctv.com/2016/02/up-close-ray-locker-and-sheila-fitzpatrick/ This week on “Up Close,” there are times when those in charge of a country act with seemingly complete disregard for the law. We saw that in the United States with former President Richard Nixon. To a differing extent and in a different way, the Soviet Union saw it with Josef Stalin. But how did that culture of illegality develop, and how did those around them react?

The culture of law-breaking and secrecy in Richard Nixon’s administration is examined by USA Today Washington Enterprise Editor Ray Locker, in “Nixon’s Gamble: How a President’s Own Secret Government Destroyed His Administration.”

And then, telling stories about one of the most damaging governments in the 20th century, is University of Sydney Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick, author of “On Stalin’s Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics.”

http://newsdesk.tjctv.com This week on "Up Close," How can our most basic human behaviors work against us? And what can we do to use them in our favor?

They’re called “the artisans of crime,” and con artists use what they know about human behavior to identify, lure, and take advantage of a victim. How and why does it work? New Yorker contributing writer Maria Konnikova explains in “The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for it… Every Time.”

But understanding all these little bits of psychology is not only helpful in avoiding becoming a victim. We can also learn to be better members of society. In the case of our next author, we can learn to be better co-workers. Esquire senior editor Ross McCammon talks about that in “Works Well With Others: An Outsider’s Guide to Shaking Hands, Shutting Up, Handling Jerks, and Other Crucial Skills in Business That No One Ever Teaches You.”

This week on Up Close, we’re uncovering the significance of ancient settlements – early Native Americans from 9,000 years ago, and Jewish life in the Catskills.

It’s a bygone era that is now only available in memories and media. But when Jews vacationed extensively in the Catskills, it was a lifestyle that brought celebrity and glamour to shuffleboard and buffets. Stephen Silverman discusses the diverse and surprising narrative in “The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America.”

And then, sometimes to go digging into our pasts, we literally have to go digging. What we find can remind us of ourselves, or give us a new sense of the breadth of human traditions. Appalachian State University Professor Cheryl Claassen discusses “Beliefs and Rituals in Archaic Eastern North America: An Interpretive Guide.”

Watch the complete episode of on TJC on-demand on cable in the TJC Original Series/Interviews category.

http://newsdesk.tjctv.com/2016/01/up-close-andrew-blauner-and--aviya-kushner/ This week on "Up Close," what happens when you take some of the most well-known writers of today, and have them talk about some of the oldest stories we know of?

Literary agent Andrew Blauner gathered together some of the names you know best from the worlds of journalism and fiction and had them write about passages in the Bible for the new collection: "The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages.'

And then, when Jewish day school graduate Aviya Kushner went to one of the most well-known graduate writing programs in the country, she studied under Marilynne Robinson, one of the most well-known writers in the country. It was in a class about the Bible that she discovered the traditional Jewish approach to reading the Bible is almost entirely absent from others’ readings. That led to her book, "The Grammar of God: A Journey Into the Words and Worlds of the Bible."

http://newsdesk.tjctv.com What should we think about people who seem to have almost an obsession with helping others? On this episode of "Up Close," TJC's Steven I. Weiss speaks with the author of "Concussion," now a major motion picture starring Will Smith. Jeanne Marie Laskas tells the story of pathologist Bennet Omalu and his devotion to telling the truth about head injuries in football.

And then, so-called "do-gooders" sometimes place the lives of complete strangers ahead of those of members of their families and communities – and even their own. Is there something wrong with them, or are they on the right track? New Yorker Staff Writer Larissa MacFarquhar talks about her book, “Strangers Drowning: Grappling With Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help.”

What’s wrong with men today? On this episode of Up Close, we do our best to find out, and work on fixing the problem.

It’s possible that what men are doing wrong is as simple as numbers and economics. Fortune Magazine Contributor Jon Birger reveals those possibilities in Date-Onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game.

And then, the lazy and terrible ways that men have developed in recent years don’t leave them completely beyond hope. Fast Company’s Joe Berkowitz and Last Week Tonight’s Josh Gondelman share their thoughts from You Blew It!: An Awkward Look at the Many Ways In Which You’ve Already Ruined Your Life.

Watch the complete episode of Up Close on TJC on-demand on cable in the TJC Original Series/Interviews category. You can also listen to the complete audio of this episode at the top of this post or by subscribing to our weekly audio podcast at http://feeds.feedburner.com/tjcupclose or on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tjcs-up-close/id807702211.

http://newsdesk.tjctv.com To what lengths will we go to try to keep ourselves safe? And when we speak of keeping “us” safe, who are we excluding? TJC's Steven I. Weiss interviews

New York Times National Security Reporter Scott Shane, author of “Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone,” and speaks with Joe Domanick, author of “Blue: The LAPD and the Battle to Redeem American Policing.”

This week on "Up Close," taking inspiration from the natural world around us. The New Yorker​ editor Ann Goldstein discusses her work on the Italian-Jewish author and chemist Primo Levi's writings for THE COMPLETE WORKS OF PRIMO LEVI, and science teacher Leslie Day explores urban wildlife with FIELD GUIDE TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD BIRDS OF NEW YORK CITY.

This week on “Up Close”: Jewish love stories.

This year, the love story of two Jewish women was the one that ended discrimination against same-sex marriages within the US federal government, in what instantly became one of the most famous Supreme Court decisions. Arguing that case was lawyer Roberta Kaplan, and she shares her story and theirs in “Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA.”

And then, two women are trying to put love stories into the heart of the Jewish tradition with retellings of folk tales, love letters from prominent Jewish thinkers, and more. Penninah Schram and Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso discuss their partnered effort, “Jewish Stories of Love and Marriage: Folktales, Legends, & Letters.”

What does it take to make an artist? Steven I. Weiss speaks with a biographer of one of the most famous artists of the 20th Century, and an artist working her way up in the field, in the middle of her career.

Andy Warhol is a name only slightly better-known than his iconic pictures of subjects ranging from Campbell’s soup cans to Marilyn Monroe. But as he was crafting art, he was crafting himself as an artist. Deborah Davis explores that development in “The Trip: Andy Warhol’s Plastic Fantastic Cross-Country Adventure.”

And then, Molly Crabapple has a story to tell about what it’s taken to get to this point in her career, with a number of successful independent shows and projects, some awards won, and a perch as a contributing editor at Vice. Her memoir is “Drawing Blood.”