Bob has always liked obscure humor. Dave Barry obliges with one of his great appearances that is more of a stand up routine than a book tour talk.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Nick Ryan Gives a Tour of the FORA.tv Office
Join Nick Ryan as he goes behind-the-scenes at FORA.tv's San Francisco headquarters, meets FORA.tv staff, and takes a brief tour of the city skyline as seen from the office roof.
I promise the office is usually not this barren, we shot the video during lunch hour... :-)
Monday, July 14, 2008
FORA.tv CEO Brian Gruber on his visit to the Chautauqua Institution
Brian recorded a short video blog on his visit to the Chautauqua Institution at the end of June. Learn more about the landmark retreat in upstate New York by taking a look:
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Petrobras CEO Talks Ethanol on FORA.tv
We noticed that gas prices have gone up, so we thought a good place to go to find out why would be the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Spain. The leaders of the world's energy companies, analysts, political activists gather there to look at the future of energy. On FORA's front page today, the CEO of Brazilian energy company Petrobras Sergio Gabrielli speaks about how his country has achieved 51% ethanol usage--used to be 100% in the seventies, and every car manufactured in Brazil is flex fuel (ethanol/gasoline). Kudos to FORA's Bob Appel and Stuart Schulzke for placing one of our freelance videographers at the event in Madrid.
Across the way, at the Aspen Ideas Festival, a full slate of programs on sustainability. Go to the Aspen channel on FORA to get daily uploads of events. The page also contains a video widget that can run on your Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle or blog page. A program featuring Silicon Valley venture capital investor Vinod Khosla asks whether Biofuels will starve us or save us.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Farewell Cody's Books...
The historic Cody's Books in Berkeley recently and abruptly closed its doors to the public forever. Founded in 1956 by Fred and Pat Cody, the Bay Area business was a landmark independent bookseller and a pillar of free speech.
In commemoration, FORA.tv Syndication Editor Maureen Olund assembled a farewell video blog:
In commemoration, FORA.tv Syndication Editor Maureen Olund assembled a farewell video blog:
Sunday, July 6, 2008
"Seek dialog with people who disagree with you"
That's the essential thought in Bill Clinton's concluding remarks on the sixth day of the 2008 Aspen Ideas Festival. It also happens to be one of the pillars of the FORA vision.
We at FORA love debate, but dialog is something different and arguably more elevated. Debate is often (though certainly not always) an exercise in proving and disproving, in overwhelming an opponent with evidence and rhetoric. It frequently begins with adversarial assumptions and plays out more like a verbal boxing match than a conversation. It does have the virtue though that it always plays out the opposing viewpoints - two sides are represented and in good debate it becomes impossible to make either side into a caricature.
Real dialog aims for an exchange of ideas and viewpoints and begins with assumptions of good faith all around. The sad reality about America's public discussion at the moment is that it tends to be neither real debate nor true dialog. The American public conversation has been broadly reduced to two giant echo chambers - Rep Barney Frank points to the left blogosphere and the right talk radio as two groups that yell to their own constituents, caricature their opponents as morons while rarely bothering to actually engage them.
These are some wise words from President Clinton. And since it's my job and my passion to shamelessly flog FORA.tv, I'll add - enabling dialog through a substantive exchange of ideas is a core part of the FORA mission.
And on a related note - congratulations to the Aspen Institute for putting together such an incredible event. I'm writing right now from a breakfast conversation bt Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic and the Israeli journalist Ari Shavit and my head is still buzzing with a week's worth of vibrant dialog. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with their people and being present here.
Luckily, anyone that wants access to these events can get it via FORA.tv. Go here to see more http://fora.tv/partner/aspen_institute
We at FORA love debate, but dialog is something different and arguably more elevated. Debate is often (though certainly not always) an exercise in proving and disproving, in overwhelming an opponent with evidence and rhetoric. It frequently begins with adversarial assumptions and plays out more like a verbal boxing match than a conversation. It does have the virtue though that it always plays out the opposing viewpoints - two sides are represented and in good debate it becomes impossible to make either side into a caricature.
Real dialog aims for an exchange of ideas and viewpoints and begins with assumptions of good faith all around. The sad reality about America's public discussion at the moment is that it tends to be neither real debate nor true dialog. The American public conversation has been broadly reduced to two giant echo chambers - Rep Barney Frank points to the left blogosphere and the right talk radio as two groups that yell to their own constituents, caricature their opponents as morons while rarely bothering to actually engage them.
These are some wise words from President Clinton. And since it's my job and my passion to shamelessly flog FORA.tv, I'll add - enabling dialog through a substantive exchange of ideas is a core part of the FORA mission.
And on a related note - congratulations to the Aspen Institute for putting together such an incredible event. I'm writing right now from a breakfast conversation bt Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic and the Israeli journalist Ari Shavit and my head is still buzzing with a week's worth of vibrant dialog. It's been an absolute pleasure to work with their people and being present here.
Luckily, anyone that wants access to these events can get it via FORA.tv. Go here to see more http://fora.tv/partner/aspen_institute
Friday, July 4, 2008
Media Thinkers on FORA.tv
If you're interested in the future of media, today's FORA.tv coverage delivers a rich mix of events.
Rupert Murdoch defends FOX News on a video from one of our newest partners, Georgetown University. The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof explains his coverage of Darfur from one of my favorite partner venues, the New York Publc Library. Paul Holdengraber, the Library's director of public programs, is one of New York's great impresarios. Every program is an Event, with the highest intellectual standards combined with a great sense of theatre and showmanship. Our coverage of their Christopher Hitchens - Al Sharpton smackdown on religion and politics, moderated by Slate's Jacob Weisberg, has been viewed by over a half million visitors. Check out Paul's intro on that video, replete with a James Brown backdrop.
And our self-proclaimed cub reporter, Technorati's Peter Hirshberg, continues with his backstage interviews at the Aspen Ideas Festival with Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and Arianna Huffington. A new slate of interviews can be seen on his MyFORA page. A great companion piece from the Festival is Media and the Campaign, with the Colbert Report's Emily Lazar, journalist Howard Fineman, Atlantic editor James Bennet, Washington Post editorialist Jonathan Capehart, Newshour's Terence Smith, Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington, and Slate's Jacob Weisberg.
Rupert Murdoch defends FOX News on a video from one of our newest partners, Georgetown University. The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof explains his coverage of Darfur from one of my favorite partner venues, the New York Publc Library. Paul Holdengraber, the Library's director of public programs, is one of New York's great impresarios. Every program is an Event, with the highest intellectual standards combined with a great sense of theatre and showmanship. Our coverage of their Christopher Hitchens - Al Sharpton smackdown on religion and politics, moderated by Slate's Jacob Weisberg, has been viewed by over a half million visitors. Check out Paul's intro on that video, replete with a James Brown backdrop.
And our self-proclaimed cub reporter, Technorati's Peter Hirshberg, continues with his backstage interviews at the Aspen Ideas Festival with Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and Arianna Huffington. A new slate of interviews can be seen on his MyFORA page. A great companion piece from the Festival is Media and the Campaign, with the Colbert Report's Emily Lazar, journalist Howard Fineman, Atlantic editor James Bennet, Washington Post editorialist Jonathan Capehart, Newshour's Terence Smith, Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington, and Slate's Jacob Weisberg.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Technorati's Peter Hirshberg backstage at the Aspen Ideas Festival
For a unique backstage look at one of the world's premiere public fora, check out Peter Hirshberg's video blog on his MyFORA page at http://fora.tv/myfora/peterhirshberg.
Peter is one of the web's great business thinkers. Before his current stint at Technorati where he serves as executive committee chairman and chief marketing officer, he served as president and CEO of Gloss.com. During a nine-year tenure at Apple Computer, he grew Apple's large business and government revenue to $1 billion annually and helped lead the company’s entry into the online service arena. He is a Trustee of The Computer History Museum and a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
I met Peter last weekend at Aspen's Socrates Society Seminar, where we participated in the media track led by former FCC Chair Michael Powell. Socrates is the brainchild of Gary and Laura Lauder. Peter sat next to me and was one of the seminar's principal provocateurs.
Some of the interviews already posted include Arianna Huffington, Jim Steyer of Common Sense Media and Lawrence Lessig, with lots more to come. Also an amazing interview with William Cathers who gives a 5 minute snapshot of the Aspen Institute's history and vision. Peter had me shoot the interview before I left town as a "pilot" of sorts for the upcoming flurry of shoots. The previous pilot, with participants of the seminar on Sexuality, Power and Culture with Kate Roberts, required a second take due to 2 minor technical issues (the camera was not on Record, and the audio was not plugged in).
Check out Peter's MyFORA video blog posts daily through the end of the Festival.
Peter is one of the web's great business thinkers. Before his current stint at Technorati where he serves as executive committee chairman and chief marketing officer, he served as president and CEO of Gloss.com. During a nine-year tenure at Apple Computer, he grew Apple's large business and government revenue to $1 billion annually and helped lead the company’s entry into the online service arena. He is a Trustee of The Computer History Museum and a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
I met Peter last weekend at Aspen's Socrates Society Seminar, where we participated in the media track led by former FCC Chair Michael Powell. Socrates is the brainchild of Gary and Laura Lauder. Peter sat next to me and was one of the seminar's principal provocateurs.
Some of the interviews already posted include Arianna Huffington, Jim Steyer of Common Sense Media and Lawrence Lessig, with lots more to come. Also an amazing interview with William Cathers who gives a 5 minute snapshot of the Aspen Institute's history and vision. Peter had me shoot the interview before I left town as a "pilot" of sorts for the upcoming flurry of shoots. The previous pilot, with participants of the seminar on Sexuality, Power and Culture with Kate Roberts, required a second take due to 2 minor technical issues (the camera was not on Record, and the audio was not plugged in).
Check out Peter's MyFORA video blog posts daily through the end of the Festival.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Aspen Ideas Festival highlights coming to FORA.tv
Last night was the opening session of the Aspen Ideas Festival. Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson kicked it along with David Bradley of the Atlantic Monthly. David gave a hilarious history of Aspen, followed by a series of inspired presentations of ideas. We'll have it all on FORA, starting today with a daily regimen of video highlights uploaded from the site. I ran into Jane Wales, head of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and now a Vice President at Aspen as well. Jane was one of our original Board members, and a leading thinker on world affairs and philanthropy. FORA.tv owes much to her insight and leadership.
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