Salon discussion with the author Rich Benjamin Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, by Rich Benjamin Spaces are limited so please contact jean@nysalon.org if you wish to attend. Saturday, April 17 at 3pm Get the Book Between 2007 and 2009, Rich Benjamin, a journalist-adventurer, packed his bags and embarked on a 26,909-mile journey throughout the heart of white America, to some of the fastest-growing and whitest locales in our nation. By 2042, whites will no longer be the American majority. As immigrant populations - largely people of color - increase in cities and suburbs, more and more whites are moving to small towns and exurban areas that are predominately, even extremely, white. Rich Benjamin calls these enclaves “Whitopias” (pronounced: “White-o-pias”). His journey to unlock the mysteries of Whitopias took him from a three-day white separatist retreat with links to Aryan Nations in North Idaho to the inner sanctum of George W. Bush’s White House–and many points in between. And to learn what makes Whitopias tick, and why and how they are growing, he lived in three of them (in Georgia, Idaho, and Utah) for several months apiece. A compelling raconteur, bon vivant, and scholar, Benjamin reveals what Whitopias are like and explores the urgent social and political implications of this startling phenomenon.

NY Salon Public Event

The NY Salon in association with The Albert Ellis Institute presents “Hardwired for Life?”

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Please RSVP to jean@nysalon.org

Venue: The Albert Ellis Institute

www.albertellis.org
45 E65 St
(Between Park Ave and Madison Ave) NY
NY
212 535 0822

Researchers in the field of behavioral genetics have asserted claims for a genetic basis to numerous behaviors, including homosexuality, aggression, alcoholism, and nurturing. Furthermore, a growing scientific and popular focus on genes and behavior has contributed to a resurgence of behavioral genetic determinism - the belief that genetics is the major factor in determining behavior. Just recently commentators have blamed the international economic crisis on the innate greed of our consumer “have it all now” society.

Are behaviors inbred, written indelibly in our genes as immutable biological imperatives, or is the environment more important in shaping our thoughts and actions? What are the social consequences of genetic diagnoses of such traits as intelligence, criminality, or homosexuality? How much of our behavior can be attributed to our hardwiring?

Speakers

Ron Bailey is the award-winning science correspondent for Reason magazine and Reason.com, where he writes a weekly science and technology column. He is the author of the book Liberation Biology: The Moral and Scientific Case for the Biotech Revolution (Prometheus, 2005), and his work was featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004. In 2006, Bailey was shortlisted by the editors of Nature Biotechnology as one of the personalities who have made the “most significant contributions” to biotechnology in the last 10 years.

From 1987 to 1990, Bailey was a staff writer for Forbes magazine, covering economic, scientific and business topics. His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Commentary, The Public Interest, Smithsonian, TechCentralStation, National Review, Reader’s Digest and many other publications.

Bailey has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including the NBC Nightly News, PBS’ Newshour, several National Public Radio programs, and various C-SPAN programs. He has lectured at Harvard University, Yale University, Morehouse University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, the University of Virginia, and many other places.

Click to look inside Ron Bailey’s book, Liberation Biology.

Stuart Derbyshire is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, UK. His lab is mainly focused on the inter-relationship between biology and psychology. Essentially he aims to understand how genes and brains inform behavior and experience and to what extent behavior and experience break free of biological constraint. Derbyshire’s main interest is in pain as a particularly tricky example of how the interface of biology and experience can be much less obvious than it seems. He has also written extensively on fetal pain, consciousness, genetics, ethics, shopping and economics.

Derbyshire SWG. Blaming the Brain. PsycCRITIQUES – Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books 2007; 52(47): Article 3

There’s more to humans than biological burps

Derbyshire SWG. DNA and Destiny: Nature and Nurture in Human Behaviour. British Medical Journal 1997; 314: 1137

Derbyshire SWG. Unorthodox theories of autism are wrong and inhuman. PsycCRITIQUES – Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books 2009;54(24): Article 1

David Shenk is the national bestselling author of five previous books, including The Forgetting, Data Smog and The Immortal Game. He is a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com, and has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, Gourmet, Harper’s, The New Yorker, NPR, and PBS.

Shenk’s new book, The Genius in All of Us will be published by Doubleday on March 9, 2010 and will be available at the event.

Shenk’s book The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (Doubleday, 2006), was hailed as “superb,” by The Wall Street Journal, “fresh and fascinating” by The Chicago Sun-Times, “engaging” by The Washington Post, and “a thrilling tour” by Entertainment Weekly. Author Jonathan Cott called it “one of the most remarkable books I’ve read over the past many years — its ‘brilliancy’ illuminates so much of life in all its aspects.” In January, 2004, PBS broadcast “The Forgetting,” a prime-time documentary inspired by the book. Shenk speaks frequently on the history, biology and social urgency of Alzheimer’s disease. He has also advised the President’s Council on Bioethics on dementia-related issues.

Prior to that, Shenk published two books and dozens of essays on the emotional, social and political ramifications of the information revolution.

Dr. Kristene Doyle is the Associate Executive Director of the Albert Ellis Institute. She is also the Director of Clinical Services and Director of Child and Family Services at the Ellis Institute and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at St. John’s University. She received her Ph.D. in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University and a Doctor of Science degree from the International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health. She has conducted seminars and workshops and given numerous presentations, both nationally and internationally, on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and its application to various mental disorders, including anxiety and depression. Dr. Doyle has also appeared frequently on TV and radio and in newspapers across the country.

The New York Salon Drinks, Music and More…

The New York Salon invites you to an end of year get together, post Thanksgiving and pre Christmas, where, with a spectacular backdrop, we can enjoy a for a relaxed evening of conversation, music (at 8.00pm) and stunning views of the city and, as ever, think and discuss (and probably argue a little!) about not only what has happened, but also where we might be headed.

We are extremely fortunate to have the extremely talented Ben Breen who is generously performing a number of chamber style pieces for us. Recognized as one of Australia’s outstanding violinists, Benjamin made his New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He has since toured in Australia, Europe, the United States and Japan, receiving critical acclaim both as soloist with orchestra, in recital and as chamber musician.

Or, in the words of Fanfare magazine, regarding his recording of Brahms with Milton Kaye, “Breen has a tone of such vibrancy and warmth it makes you want to cuddle……this becomes one of the top Brahms sonata discs on the market… I cannot praise the playing of this duo too highly…Very highly recommended”

For more on Ben Breen go to http://www.aussifiddler.com/biography.html

Ben will perform:

• “Sarabande”, From the Partita No. 2 in D minor, J.S. Bach
• “Daises”, Rachmaninov/Heifetz
• “Estrelita” (My Little Star) – Mexican Serenade, Ponce/Heifetz
• “Beau Soir” (Beautiful Evening), Debussy/Heifetz
• “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair”, Debussy/Hartmann
• “Smile” from Modern Times, Charles Chaplin/Ogermann

Public Event –– The Recession, Obama and the Future – where do we go from here?

Satellite Event

Monday, November 9, 7.00pm to 8.30pm
(This event is FREE but ticketed) Please contact jean@nysalon.org
Venue: Barnes and Noble, Lincoln Triangle Branch, Broadway and 66th Street, New York
STORE LOCATOR

The run up to the US Presidential Elections last year seemed to buck the trend of entrenched cynicism and apathy that had come to characterise contemporary politics. Barack Obama’s rallies were often more like pop concerts or festivals, and many young people were mobilised to vote. Beyond broad generalities such as ‘hope’ and ‘change’ however, critics noted that specific political ideas and broader party principles seemed to be absent. Now we are in the midst of a severe recession: financial institutions and flagship businesses like GM are in crisis and jobs are being lost. So can President Obama deliver on his promise and deliver the change necessary for economic recovery?

The global political climate has changed dramatically in recent years. The traditional debates between right and left, capitalism and communism – the interplay of which shaped the thinking of economic thinkers like Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes – lack salience today. So what ideological resources, if any, does Obama have to draw on? It often appears few politicians and commentators even understand what has happened and why – let alone how to resolve the problem. Many have sought to blame ‘greedy bankers’ or ‘greedy consumers’ and neglectful regulators – but is this a case of scapegoating rather than serious analyis? Western economies have become increasingly dependent on credit rather than production. Will attempting to kick-start these economies with a stimulus bill that is predicated on more credit creation get to the heart of the problem? Or do we need a more comprehensive, honest debate about the fundamentals of the economy, what is and is not working, and what has changed? Given all the failed experiments of the past, is there no alternative to how things are? Can citizens make a difference to these complex issues?

Speakers:

Justin Fox is the economics and business columnist for Time magazine. He also writes the Curious Capitalist blog on Time.com. Before joining Time in 2007, Fox spent more than a decade at Fortune magazine, where he covered a wide variety of topics related to economics, finance, and international business. In 2000 and 2001, he was the magazine’s Europe editor, based in London.
Prior to joining Fortune, Fox worked at several newspapers, including American Banker and The Birmingham (Alabama) News. He has a degree in international affairs from Princeton University, studied political science at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and speaks Dutch and German. Fox is married and has a son. He lives in Manhattan. His first book, The Myth of the Rational Market, is a history of the rise and fall of the efficient market hypothesis – the influential academic theory that financial markets are nearly perfectly rational and correct.

Justin Fox is the author of The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward and Delusion on Wall Street
http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Rational-Market-History-Delusion/dp/0060598999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255275129&sr=1-1

James Matthews is a management consultant based in New York. James has written about a variety of business and economics topics. He is a member of the NY Salon, and has convened NY Salon events such as “Is There a Culture of Corruption?” and “Athletes as Role Models in the Steroids Era.” James lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons, and is an avid fan of the New York Yankees baseball team.

Robert J. Samuelson – reporter for Washington Post, 1969-1973; freelance writer,1973-1976; economics correspondent and columnist for the National Journal magazine, 1976-1984; NJ columns reprinted in Washington Post beginning in 1977; columnist for Newsweek, 1983-present (biweekly Newsweek columns reprinted in Post; columns for Post in the off weeks). He is married to Judith Herr, with three children.

Robert Samuelson is the author of The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Inflation-Its-Aftermath-Affluence/dp/0375505482

Bruce Bartlett is an economic historian who has spent the last 30 years working in politics and public policy. He has served in numerous governmental positions, including as a domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and a Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush. He is a weekly columnist for Forbes.com and has written for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, Commentary, and Fortune. He is also a frequent guest on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Lou Dobbs’ Moneyline, NBC Nightly News, Nightline, Crossfire, Wall Street Week, CNN, CNBC, and Fox News Channel, among others.

 
Bruce Bartlett’s most recently published book is The New American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward.
http://www.amazon.com/New-American-Economy-Failure-Reaganomics/dp/0230615872/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255921470&sr=1-1

Moderator: Alan Miller, co-director, NY Salon; director and producer, TV, theatre and documentaries; cultural commentator; co-founder of London’s Truman Brewery and Vibe Bar.