Journalist Julia Ioffe, of Puck.News, began her American journey as a seven-year-old Soviet-Jewish refugee. Now a go-to expert on Russia, she joins me to unmask Vladimir Putin and more ...

The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood is an intrepid war reporter, a polymath, and a linguist, who goes “where everything’s a mess . . . and things are changing really, really fast.” We begin with him hitchhiking through Iraq ...

Imani Perry, National Book Award winner and Professor of African American Studies at Harvard, lives and writes at the intersection of dreams deferred and hope. After listening to her, hope prevails ...

An uplifting and empowering Wavemaker Conversation with Professor Loretta J. Ross, about her alternative to “cancel culture.” It begins with her assignment as the “handler” of an Aryan Nations defector ...

In-depth conversations with the most creative thinkers, respected leaders, and preeminent authors in a wide variety of fields including sports, the arts, business, history, politics, parenting, psychology and medicine. Subscribe for free on ITunes or Podbean. Rachel Held Evans: The ...

Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, war correspondent, and devoted parent, on his high-risk life journey to “escape the tyranny of self-interest.” ...

My wide-ranging conversation with the Holocaust survivor, author, teacher, and Nobel Peace Prize Winner ...

The former Hardball anchor and I had this conversation in August 2022. He sure saw the warning signs for Democrats in 2024. He also shared great stories from his days in politics ...

A Preview of My Conversation With Spencer Glendon of Probable Futures I would like to share with you one of the most riveting presentations on climate change that I have ever seen. It was delivered before a packed house of ...

A rare opportunity to learn from Sanjay – veteran neurosurgeon and CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent – when he’s removed from the rush of breaking news ...

Here is a five minute time-sensitive exercise of imagination. My partner is Yale history professor David Blight. He recently won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist leader who escaped slavery and became one of America’s ...

Kamau Bobb received a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy from Georgia Tech, holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a national leader in STEM education. It has happened again. I was ...

Introducing Saru Jayaraman.  Millions of Americans caught a glimpse of her at this year’s Golden Globes, where she was Amy Poehler’s guest – recognized for her role in the battle against sexual harassment in the restaurant industry.  Jayaraman, who was ...

What is your superpower? Is it writing, speaking, communicating with power? It could be if you listen to this conversation with Joseph Romm, author of How To Go Viral and Reach Millions: Top Persuasion Secrets from Social Media Superstars, Jesus, ...

This is the story, and backstory, of a workshop on feminism, led by men, for men, in an all-male prison. The Feminist on Cellblock Y is an immersive and memorable CNN documentary shot inside a California state prison. In this ...

This is my conversation with Rachel Held Evans – RHE – from 2012, after the publication of her A Year of Biblical Womanhood, a provocative and entertaining account of her experiment living the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as ...

@YahooSports Senior NFL Writer and Hall of Fame Voter Terez Paylor joins me in Atlanta for a Super Bowl seminar and Football 101 combined – making it the perfect prep for those across the football spectrum: from super-novices to those ...

Yoka Verdoner was separated from her parents when she was only 8 years old. Now 84, her life story is a window into the trauma that has been inflicted on so many migrant children separated from their parents at the ...

A Charlottesville, VA jury today convicted a white supremacist of first-degree murder for killing Heather Heyer. He intentionally drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors at the “Unite the Right” rally for neo-Nazis and white nationalists. A week after ...

America is hungry for the voice of an honorable leader. I have been listening to such a voice — the voice of Admiral William McRaven. McRaven, now retired, is a Navy SEAL who rose to become the leader of the U.S. Special ...

America is hungry for the voice of an honorable leader. So Wavemaker brings you the voice of Retired Admiral William McRaven, former Navy SEAL and Commander of all U.S. Special Operations Forces. He was the architect of the raid that ...

Environmentalists don’t vote. At least not nearly as much as the general population. They have a turnout problem. By Nathaniel Stinnett’s estimate, 10.1 million registered voters who consider climate change or the environment as one of their top two priorities, ...

Jane Alexander’s illustrious acting career was launched in 1968 by her breakthrough performance in the Pulitzer Prize winning play (and later movie) The Great White Hope. She then took the political stage as Chairperson of the National Endowment for the ...

Standup comic Pete Dominick joins me to dissect Michelle Wolf’s routine at the recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Why now? Because this Sunday, May 27th, Wolf’s new series, The Break, debuts on Netflix. That’s just as good an excuse as ...

Here is Michelle Wolf’s entire performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Most people have only heard clips. Here is all of it – 19 minutes and roughly 50 jokes – unedited. This is the beginning of a broader mission ...

There’s a new surge of military veterans running for Congress.  And they’re split about evenly between Democrats and Republicans.  Do veterans have a competitive edge over those who have not served in the military?  Are they better equipped for the ...

Some people recognize potential threats to our democracy before others.  My guest, Barbara Simons, is one of those people.  15 years ago, not long after the infamous “hanging chads” threw the Bush v Gore vote count into turmoil and computerized ...

Introducing former Army Sergeant Matt Martin, author of “I’ve Been Shot In Combat. And As A Veteran, I’m Telling You: Allowing Teachers To Be Armed Is An Asinine Idea.” Since writing it two weeks ago for his new hometown’s website, ...

Lois Jenson is a historic figure in the battle against sexual harassment – the lead plaintiff in the field’s first class action lawsuit.  As one of the first four women miners in a northern Minnesota mine, Jenson shares what one ...

Astrophysicist Sara Seager joins me for a conversation about her leading role in the search for earth-like planets outside our solar system.  When she began her search as a graduate student – not just for any “exoplanets” as they’re called, ...

Mary Koss has been on a 40-year quest for justice – “to understand why women are hurt and how we can stop it.” As a young professor, with a PhD in clinical psychology, Koss was asked by a more senior ...

Professor Louise Fitzgerald is a pioneer in sexual harassment research. At this moment, when women who have broken their silence have led to the downfall of so many prominent men, I speak with Fitzgerald about how to assess the continuum ...

This conversation will help make your children (and you, too) better writers. Last time Jack Gantos was on Wavemaker Conversations, he shared his unforgettable journey to a terrifying prison sentence in a federal penitentiary and then to a prolific writing ...

Author Will Schwalbe is one of the funniest serious readers you’ll ever hear.  In our conversation, before a packed house at The Nantucket Book Festival, Will and I talk about his latest work, Books for Living, in which he treats ...

When Ruth Reichl became the restaurant critic for The New York Times, she learned there was a bounty on her – $1,000 for any worker who recognized this make-or-break critic when she sat down to eat.  Reichl shares the backstory ...

New York Times bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims says she is “so American it hurts.”  Why so much pain in this American success story? How did this daughter of a prominent black physician and white teacher come to loathe herself despite ...

A legendary figure in modern psychoanalysis, and best-selling author, on coping with existential anxiety and using it to increase fulfillment in life ...

A legendary figure in modern psychoanalysis, and best-selling author, on coping with existential anxiety and using it to increase fulfillment in life ...

6’2” Carey Kauffman, a March Madness veteran of the Duke University Blue Devils, couples her insights from a life in basketball with her experience as the mother of two children born with rare diseases.  Kauffman, the daughter of an NBA ...

You may be tempted to scream -- “don’t do it, Jack!” -- at the outset of this podcast.  My conversation with author Jack Gantos, at the Nantucket Book Festival, begins with a choice he made in 1971 that led him ...

Bob Chapman turned a small, teetering 19th century manufacturing company that served the beer industry, into a 2.5 billion dollar enterprise. He owes his success to a traumatic experience, which forced him to find value that others couldn’t see. He ...

One of basketball’s all-time greats on what made his sky-hook unstoppable, battling cancer, writing children’s books, John Coltrane, and his first love ...

Former NFL Head Coach Dan Reeves, who led the Atlanta Falcons to their only other Super Bowl (and the Broncos to three) takes us beyond the play-by-play.  His 101 on the “silent count” – essential for the offense to communicate ...

Mediation master William Ury, of Getting to Yes fame, provides an inside account of the the peace deal that ended Colombia’s civil war. The talks began with a high-risk secret move deep in the jungle ...

Introducing Cathy Salit -- a master of improvisation. Salit started improvising young. When she was only 12, she was so miserable at school, her mother convinced her to drop out and create her own school.  She has been improvising ever ...

The Sports Gene author, David Epstein, joined me for a conversation that will empower young athletes, their parents, and coaches ...

Mary Norris tells me she prefers to be called a Prose Goddess.  But Comma Queen has stuck.  Norris, a copy editor at The New Yorker for more than 30 years, is author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a ...

Backstage with the pianist who has been called “the hottest classical artist on the planet” – Lang Lang.  Featuring an emotional appearance by his mom, whose sacrifice launched him on his difficult journey of a thousand miles ...

The Wavemaker Parenting Wisdom Tour brings you the compelling personal story of Trinity College squash coach Paul Assaiante. He entered a sport without formal training, and took a second tier team to 13 straight national championships.  Along the way, through ...

Unforgettable stories about football – and America -- from one of the great head coaches in college football and a center in 3 of the first 5 Super Bowls ...

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon & CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, weighs in on over-parenting, the unforgettable chores that shaped his childhood, his transformation from unmotivated to driven high school student, and the legacy he hopes to leave. That plus the latest ...

Jessica Lahey -- author of "The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed" -- joins Michael as he continues to tap into the most creative and respected thinkers addressing the growing ...

Julie Lythcott-Haims has emerged as a powerful new rudder for parents. As the Dean of Freshmen at Stanford University, she recognized the first signs that overparenting was damaging our kids' abilities to function as independent adults. Then she realized, she ...

Master mediator William Ury dissects Michelangelo's 500 year old letter to the Pope, a powerful example of how saying No can lead to a wiser Yes. The letter, recently circulated by the inspired Maria Popova of Brainpickings.org, contains wisdom that ...

The best-selling author’s investigation into the most common regrets shared by people around the world, and how “looking backward moves us forward." ...

British Mideast expert Emma Sky went to Iraq in 2003 on a mission to help the Iraqi people. She was greeted by an assassination attempt. And then ...

The author of The Dowd Report, which led to the banishment of Pete Rose from baseball, provides an exclusive, behind-the-scenes account of his investigation that concluded baseball's all-time hit leader gambled heavily on baseball and his own team. Dowd explains ...

Well before The Dowd Report that led to the banishment of Pete Rose from baseball, John Dowd, Emory Law School grad, was a Marine, then a Justice Department prosecutor who lead the battle to bring down the Mafia. The investigation ...

The former MLB Commissioner's exclusive behind the scenes account of the investigation that led to the banishment of Pete Rose from baseball. Part 3 of The Fay Vincent Sessions, a Wavemaker podcast special with the eighth Commissioner of Major League ...

Former MLB Commish Fay Vincent, an oral historian of the game, shares stories that will help us watch the World Series smarter. Among the stories only Vincent can tell: 1) Two Hall of Famers debating who's dumber, pitchers or hitters? ...

The 8th Commissioner of Major League Baseball discusses the pivotal event in his life: a 4-story fall from his college dorm room window – and his mother’s advice, which reframed his future ...

What was Ted Kennedy's first case as a young prosecutor? Why did he lose with so much evidence against the defendant? What advice did he get from his brother, John, when he prepared to enter politics? What did he learn ...

Michael & Dad.  By Michael Schulder October 1, 2015   Today, my father would have turned 92.  If he were alive, and healthy, he would have been working.  On stage. My father, Bobby Shields, was a standup comic. When I ...

Emergency field director for the International Rescue Committee on the Greek island of Lesvos, Kirk Day, gives Michael Schulder a first hand account of the quickly escalating refugee crisis in Europe. 20 minutes into their conversation Kirk has to cut ...

A Fantasy Football episode with real life lessons. My guest is Joe Moglia - Head Coach of the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers football team. Why Joe Moglia? Because after many years struggling to support a family on the small salary ...

Andrew Revkin, of the NY Times Dot Earth blog, captures "the history of our love affair with fossil fuels" with a memorable performance of his song Liberated Carbon. As for breaking news, will President Obama's latest initiatives to battle global ...

Meet three emerging literary stars. Three young authors, three highly acclaimed new books. All have insights for writers and for parents who would love their children to do more reading and writing. Justin St. Germain investigates the life, and violent ...

Schulder speaks with Harper Lee biographer Charles Shields about the To Kill A Mockingbird - Go Set A Watchman saga. Shields, author of "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee," relays captivating stories of Lee's life including her close friendship with ...

Michael speaks with best-selling historian Nathaniel Philbrick. Philbrick identified 14 year old boys at the center of two fascinating chapters in American history, including the sinking of the whale ship Essex in 1820 by a huge whale, a true story ...

Beah's best-selling memoir led a NY Times reviewer to wonder "how anyone comes through such unrelenting ghastliness and horror with his humanity and sanity intact." This conversation provides some answers ...

Schulder speaks with Azar Nafisi, Iranian-American author of the number one New York Times bestseller "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and "Republic of Imagination: America in 3 Books," in front of a live audience at this summer's Nantucket Book Festival. Nafisi ...

The former First Lady and I discuss the roots of her fierce advocacy for mental health coverage, the opposition to women’s rights that she encountered on Capitol Hill, her full partnership with Jimmy, and more ...

In the run-up to the Stanley Cup finals, Schulder pays a visit to hockey maven Stan Fischler. When the 83 year old historian of hockey is not fighting city traffic on his bicycle, he is analyzing games for the MSG ...

Miles O'Brien shares inside stories of his 15 years as CNN's science, space and aviation correspondent, his passion for piloting, how close he got to flying on a space shuttle, the unusual sequence of events that led to the amputation ...

Ben Sollee is a cellist/singer/songwriter whose music defies all categories. His unique sound, which you will hear during this conversation, is influenced by classical, bluegrass, and R&B, and was described by New York Times music critic Stephen Holden as "meticulous, ...

Fellow Parents: May is the month of the inspired college commencement address. But many of us need inspiration for a different age. With college admissions mania bathing entire families with anxiety, I’m seeking commencement address wisdom for parents whose children ...

As the Supreme Court considers whether the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry throughout the U.S., Schulder considers a different question. Is there something he and other heterosexual husbands and wives can learn from same-sex couples who already ...

A Christian perspective on the sentencing phase of the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Not the only Christian perspective, of course. But one uniquely articulated by Schulder's two guests, Mark Osler and Jeanne Bishop. Osler is author of ...

Schulder speaks with The New Yorker's Evan Osnos. This week Osnos was named a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his book "The Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China." Ambition in Mandarin means "wild heart." ...

One of America's most esteemed political reporters gives her first in-depth interview since leaving her position as CNN's Chief Political Correspondent. Candy shares with Michael her early impressions of the new campaign season as well as her personal experiences with ...

This is the inside story of life at college fraternities and sororities. In the aftermath of a wave of scandals and the Rolling Stone debacle, Michael Schulder speaks with University of Kentucky Professor Alan DeSantis -- a veritable Fraternity Anthropologist ...

The man chosen to replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show is more than the sum of his tweets. How much more? Joining Michael Schulder to discuss Trevor Noah and the challenges faced by all comedians is standup comic Pete ...

My conversation with the only person qualified to use the Twitter handle @MathMeetsFball -- Baltimore Ravens' offensive lineman John Urschel. Urschel is getting major buzz this week after linebacker Chris Borland retired from the NFL to avoid the long-term health ...

With Spring Training in full swing, Schulder goes to the top -- to the President of New York University, John Sexton. Sexton is the author of "Baseball As A Road To God," based on his popular class of the same ...

    By Michael Schulder March 4, 2015 I am struggling with how to write this introduction to my podcast with Stanford University Psychology Professor Carol Dweck. As a result of my conversation with Professor Dweck, I am loving the ...

A conversation with the author of Mindset – a seminal book on motivation and overcoming the fear of failure ...

Schulder speaks with the man anyone would want on their speed dial, esteemed negotiator William Ury. Ury is co-author of the classic Getting to Yes. His new book, Getting to Yes with Yourself (and Other Worthy Opponents) is about how ...

The latest wave of stories about cheating and lying and cutting corners - from the Patriots' deflated footballs to Brian Williams' inflated war story - led my teenage son - who is passionate about fair play - to wonder: Can ...

A perspective changing conversation with one of the leaders in the world of brain plasticity -- best selling author Dr. Norman Doidge. His new book, The Brain's Way of Healing, provides the latest insights from the frontiers of brain science ...

Michael Schulder speaks with Hall of Fame Super Bowl Champion Linebacker Nick Buoniconti, who, at 5’11”, was almost overlooked in the draft. Former HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg provides a behind the scenes view of the game. And NFL Special ...

“PURE FAILURE” Lessons From The Heart Of A Winner By Michael Schulder October 15, 2014 A WaveMaker Conversation With Coach Paul Assaiante Why is it that Coach Paul Assaiante always seems to be smiling?   What enables him to be so ...

By Michael Schulder October 2, 2014   How can the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s 12th Man be a game-changer? The 12th Man, in football parlance, refers to the fans.  11 men from each team are on the field.  The 12th Man ...

by Michael Schulder September 3, 3014   I’ve been looking for a last minute edge in the 2014 Fantasy Football Draft. So I’ve reached out to a man who is living his Football Fantasy. His name is Joe Moglia. Joe ...

A WaveMaker Conversation With Daniel Menaker Dear Fellow Parents: I am always searching for books that will spark a life-long passion for reading in my children. Little Daniel Menaker’s story could be a perspective changer. Menaker is not little any ...

  THE WILD HEARTS OF CHINA A WAVEMAKER CONVERSATION With EVAN OSNOS Breaking News:  The word ambition in Chinese literally means “wild heart.” Why is this breaking news?  Because for most of Chinese history, in a society that put the ...

STEAL THIS BOOK By Michael Schulder May 23, 2014   This story begins about 27-hundred years ago with an epic journey through the islands of ancient Greece, and ends, I hope, with a crime of epic impact on the Massachusetts ...

THE PLANK WAVE HITS LAND: The Power of Gabi Ury By Michael Schulder May 2, 2014   The Wave that began right here on Michael Schulder’s WaveMaker on March 27th, what I call The Plank Wave, but probably should have ...

HOW (AND WHY) TO JOIN THE PLANK WAVE By Michael Schulder April 8, 2014   I am asking you to join what I have named The Plank Wave.    The proof of its potential power is in this 4 minutes and ...

The Plank Wave “The Performance Enhancing Edition” By Michael Schulder April 2, 2014 Oh, to begin a Wave with a strong breeze. That’s what is happening right now with The Plank Wave. In case you missed Part 1 of The ...

The PLANK  Wave Part 1 By Michael Schulder March 27, 2014 I’ve never asked anyone to get down on the floor before reading one of my stories. But I suggest that you drop down now, in the core-strengthening position called ...

I can’t tell you how old my mother would have been today, on her birthday, if she were still alive. She would not have wanted me to share that detail.  My mother preferred to keep her age a secret.  I ...

Valentine’s Day:  The Gift of the Pause I thought I had come up with the best Valentine’s Day Gift ever earlier this week when I wrote The Gift of the Magic Ratio.  But I’ve just come up with something better.  ...

I’m always trying to figure out original ways to make special holidays happy occasions for my wife. That’s just the kind of husband I am. Often I think of these original happiness-inducing ideas hours AFTER the holiday in question is ...

As the Seattle Seahawks were holding their official Super Bowl Victory celebration this morning I was celebrating my own victoy.  Super Bowl 2014 proved that I am not a Monday Morning Quarterback. I am a Sunday Morning Quarterback. On the ...

Please join my campaign to make this Super Bowl Sunday “Center Awareness Day.” I ask for your support because of how many people are not aware that the Center is the most important position in football. Oh yes it is ...

Image Credit: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Best Super Bowl Half-Time Show Ever I’m beginning a campaign to reshape the Super Bowl Half Time show for 2015. I like Bruno Mars, and am looking forward to his performance on Sunday ...

Image Credit: William Brawley  When yesterday’s Atlanta snowfall turned my carpool ride home with 4 children from a 25 minute cruise into a 5-hour crawl, my son brought up his current literature assignment, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. I’d never read ...

The indignity! While Michelle Obama was celebrating her 50th birthday this weekend, she was unceremoniously kicked out of a club. It’s a big money club – a major driver of American culture.    Big Advertising and Network Television executives call ...

 Sam Berns  1996-2014 Sam was a boy with an old man’s face, an old man’s body, an old man’s diseases, and a young man’s ambition, drive and dreams.    Sam is still, and will always be, worth your time getting ...

THE LOVE GENE On July 19th, during a heat wave, the author David Epstein texted me that he’d just gotten back from his morning run and was ready to talk about setting up an interview about his new book The ...

For nearly 30 years I have wanted to sit down and have a conversation with Elie Wiesel. I finally got my opportunity a few weeks ago, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

 The ...

He signed Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Patti Smith, to name a few. He tells me: “I didn’t specialize... I approached music just being open to what moved me.” ...

As a child raised in a strict Baptist community, he was directed, with a red leather Bible in hand, to find lost souls and save them. Some upbringing for one of the great horror film directors ...

Barbara Arrowsmith spent the first 26 years of her life unable to read a clock. She spent the first 26 years of her life having to read and reread sentences dozens of times before she had a clue what they ...

Dear Fellow Parents: When Geoffrey Fletcher was about 13 years old his father sat down beside him to teach him about F-stops on a camera. F-stops help determine how much light gets through the lens. That moment, of a father ...

I think I hit the jackpot when I sat down with Wendy Williams for this CNN Profile. She may be Exhibit A in the case I’ve been building since I turned 50 to destroy the myth of the 18-49 demographic ...

This conversation with The Chopra Brothers, who took very different paths in medicine, begins with a physician in India who had amazing ears: Their father ...

Once a success, always a success. You know who said that? Nobody. At least nobody I know of. Often when we see a great success, whether it’s an individual like Steve Jobs, or a product like – oh man, I ...

  I have just spoken to one of the most influential women in the fashion world. I tried to unlock the mystery of how she decides which designers should make the cut. “If my covet radar goes up, most likely ...

Dear Fellow Parents who are worried about what college their children will get into and, after those children graduate from college, what will become of them in their professional and personal lives. Please – before your next bout of worrying ...

Dr. Sanjay Gupta was talking about the signature injury of the Boston Massacre last night on CNN: the limb wounds that have led to amputations. He explained how some survivors still face a choice in the coming days and weeks ...

There’s an old quote from Mister Rogers that has been circulating on Facebook since the Boston Marathon bombings. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news” Fred Rogers wrote in his book on parenting, ...

CNN’s founder reveals the backstory of how he became an Eco-Capitalist – redefining his bottom line. Plus, Turner the Classics lover recites a poem about a Roman soldier that inspires his approach to leadership ...

Sixteen-year-old Elie Wiesel in second row, seventh from left, days after his liberation from Buchenwald.   Editor's Note: Today marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was Elie Wiesel’s idea to make this an institution of ...

How many executives does it take to make an executive decision? As many as possible. I just made that joke up as I thought about what I learned from our guest this week on CNN Profiles – which you can ...

by Michael Schulder Think of an executive you can't imagine saying no to. Not the kind of executive who elicits the yes through fear or leverage or deference to the job title. The kind who really makes you want to ...

Before you click play on our conversation with best-selling author Jodi Picoult, ask yourself this: Would you forgive Ieng Sary? I never heard of Ieng Sary either until I stumbled upon his obit on CNN's website: "It was one of ...

When the CNN Profiles guest booking producers recommended we interview Emily Bazelon about her new book on bullying I was reluctant. Sure, Bazelon is a household name to those of us who read Slate – which is not a household ...

Tyrese tells me how he “dreamed beyond the reality I was living in.” Rev Run, a founding father of Hip Hop, shares how his highest moment became his lowest. Both have something to teach us ...

How a child with leg braces grew up to become a dancer, choreographer, and the Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ...

Have you seen the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild? If you have, I believe you will emerge with a question: What was real and what was imagined? There is no simple answer for this. Reality can spark the imagination ...

Way before Matchmaker.com, and eHarmony, and J-Date, in the days before 21st century computer technology - when mobile meant the fascinating object above your crib - there was: Operation Match. The year was 1965. Harvard was still all-male. Two of ...

Leigh Anne Touhy is not Sandra Bullock. Touhy is the real thing. Nothing against Bullock. She deserved her Oscar for best actress in the film adaptation of Michael Lewis’s football masterpiece, The Blind Side. But Leigh Anne Touhy, as you’ll ...

I’ve never heard anyone ask CNN’s senior political analyst, David Gergen, about his role in developing one of the most memorable lines ever in a presidential debate. I've never heard anyone ask him about the message former President Nixon urged ...

If the anchorman in "Broadcast News" had been based on Peter Jennings, it would have been a very different movie. In the movie, the producers in the control room talk to the anchor in his earpiece, telling him what to ...

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My son's most treasured possession these days is a stick.  It's an ordinary looking stick.  But I'm told it has extraordinary powers. Can you imagine what powers this stick possesses? My son can. He's adept at wielding that stick. He ...

"You know you're an extreme parent if your child, who does not have a documented learning disability, has more than three tutors." "You know you're an extreme parent if you imagine that your child is going to play professional sports ...

Why doesn’t a winner smile. That’s the first thing we wanted to know when we spoke with the third winningest manager in baseball history, Tony La Russa. We tried to find a picture of him smiling during all those winning ...

I got the email in a plane on the runway. Last night at 8:22pm. HE – the man who was responsible for my most embarrassing panic-inducing moment as a journalist – is “happy to talk … eager to help if ...

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We journalists aren’t allowed to root for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney in Tuesday night’s debate. But we can root for our own Candy Crowley. We’ve been rooting for her for many years and she has never let us down ...

A baseball tradition is about to end. This week, Major League Baseball announced it would no longer allow the use of chewing tobacco when fans are present. If you've got it, says the league, you've got to conceal it. Since ...

This could get nasty, this podcast with Ed Falco. Falco has written a violent book. It must be violent. It’s "The Family Corleone," the prequel to "The Godfather," by Mario Puzo. But we don’t dwell on the violence in this ...

Tonight, Barack Obama will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Will President Obama be funny? "As funny as the times allow," said a White House official. How funny do these times allow one to be? We asked a ...

I met a fascinating guy at a recent gathering here in Atlanta. He was telling someone how well his son was doing in college. What made his story interesting was this: His son used to be his daughter. His daughter ...

This week Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been on CNN a lot talking about his documentary this Sunday: Big Hits, Broken Dreams. It’s about the dangers of concussions, especially for high school football players. He brought up a term I’d never ...

I've been obsessing over "The Scream" ever since the painting sold for a record $120 million at Sotheby's last week. Most others have dwelled how disturbing that contorted, anxious face is. But I find the face inspiring, even uplifting. Maybe ...

On a cold November afternoon in 2008, in lower Manhattan, as HER candidate was serving his final weeks as President of the United States, HE was inspired. He wasn't a Bush man. He is not a party guy at all ...

To paraphrase what Senator Charles Schumer said about tickets to the inauguration, this week's CNN Profiles is not for sale. This edition of CNN Profiles is a chance for people from all 50 states to get a deeper understanding of ...

Last night I suspected my son had snuck onto my iPad and read "To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others," by this week's CNN Profiles guest, author Daniel Pink. My son is in the 6th grade. He ...

One of America's leading students of violence tells CNN that trying to prevent future massacres like the one at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School should not be the driving force of America's policies to reduce violence. "We can get misled ...

I hope listening to this podcast will be like getting the door to your mind kicked open. I wish I’d been the one to turn that phrase – getting the door to your mind kicked open. But it was Bruce ...

Something tells me if Rachel Held Evans were my childrens' Sunday School teacher they'd never want to miss a Sunday. Evans is an evangelical Christian and my family is Jewish. Evans lives in the town where the term Bible Belt ...

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From the sounds of a piano prodigy to the sounds of war, from the fight in Iraq to the fight on SARS, from the laughs of Buddy Hackett to those of his own, Michael Schulder brings it all to us ...

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I've been on a journey to come up with the best Mother's Day gift ever.  I think I've got it. I began my search by reaching out to a master negotiator:  William Ury, confounder of the Harvard Project on Negotiation ...

This afternoon – the wealthiest coach you've never heard of will be taking the college football team you've never heard of to a playoff game they were not expected to make. In fact, given his path in life, it's hard ...

This holiday season give yourself the gift of serendipity. I don’t know if Hallmark will buy that line. But a number of successful CEOs have. That’s because of the work of our guest on CNN Profiles. He is business consultant ...

With the last presidential debate upon us, we felt it was time for a real education in the art of debating. We decided to go out on a search for the best debater in the land. Well, to name one ...

Are you or is someone you know a psychopath? Wait – let's reframe that question. Do you or someone you know fall somewhere on the psychopathic spectrum? You may not know for sure until you listen to this week’s CNN ...

This story is the beginning of a personal mission. A mission that I know many of you will want to join me on. In 50 days I will turn 50. And when I do, I will be kicked out of ...

I admit it. I couldn’t resist the headline. My confession doesn’t rival David Letterman’s. But I have to get it off my chest. When I was reading CNN.com’s home page yesterday, as we were approaching CNN TV’s prime time programming ...

I must interrupt my 50th birthday campaign – my campaign to bury the worshipers of the18-49 audience “demo” – so that I can tend to company business. The deadline has arrived for me to write the confidential self-evaluation portion of ...

As I continue my countdown to age 50 (49 days away) and dig into the apparent myth that ages 18 through 49 is the sweet spot audience, my gut, which tells me the 18-49 premise is absurd, is reinforced by ...

I bumped into a trial lawyer acquaintance of mine at Starbucks in the CNN Center the other day. Somehow we got into talking about what litigators look for when choosing a jury. That’s when it hit me. How to select ...

I just learned some things that have me really excited about turning 50 – and more excited than ever that this 50on50 series may help bury the 18-49 audience demo worshipers in time for my big birthday in December. I ...

As I approach 50, I must remind myself, despite my “vast” life experience, always be prepared to be surprised. For example, this morning at 10:30am, CNN was covering the “balloon boy” parents’ court appearance - LIVE. What a waste of ...

I was ready for my closing argument. The information I gathered from leading trial attorneys for my past two pieces added so much additional weight to the premise that the 18-49 year old audience demo is finished, I was ready ...

It happened again. My on-the-verge-of-50 savvy and life experience could not prevent my jaw from dropping. I'm aware lobbyists have influence in Congress. But this was another case of "I didn't know what I didn't know." IMAGINE Imagine a member ...

As I was saying the other day, I’ve finally spoken with the man whose hoax put me in the most embarrassing position of my journalistic career. The author, Christopher Buckley, had written the faux “news release” persuading me to write ...

This is the time in the school year when parents really have a sense of whether their children are struggling academically. For those parents whose children are having a hard time with math, and are seeking help, one name seems ...

Remember how John McEnroe used to go ballistic over what he thought were bad calls by referees? Youtube has a beautiful selection. Perhaps a new study in the journal Current Biology will provide McEnroe some vindication. The study examines wrong ...

I was proudly telling our 30-something year old babysitter of my 30-something minute jog this week in the cold, hard rain. Another example, I thought, of why, as I turn 50, her 18-49 year old demo is finished as a ...

I went fly fishing for the first time in my life this weekend. According to my experienced guide, I made a common mistake that often separates the novices from the veterans. I took back a lesson from that Tennessee creek ...

Within an hour of arriving as a freshman at Vassar College in the 1980s, Andrew Zolli met a woman. They clicked. But this CNN Profile is not a love story. It’s a story about what you can accomplish when you ...

My campaign to destroy the 18-49 demo is based in part on the wisdom I’ve gained as I approach my 50th birthday. There are people in this world you can trust. And there are people you can’t trust. The fact ...

I feel safer now at work than I did yesterday. Not that I didn’t feel safe in the first place. Turner Security is first rate. But something one of the female security guards here at CNN did to me this ...

It’s true. A Nobel Peace Prize winner let me know he’s puzzled by my productivity. No, not today’s Nobel Peace Prize winner. As far as I know, President Obama is not following my campaign to destroy my industry’s worship of ...

Yesterday it was a Nobel Laureate emailing me with ammunition here to take down the 18-49 year old “demo.” Today, the clergy is beginning to weigh in. This is what Rabbi Michael Beyo emailed me. “God understood very well that ...

I believe the sequence of events I’m about to recount happened for a reason. It started with a surprise birthday cake from my CNN friends and colleagues for my 50th. I ate a piece. Then I started reading the book ...

To repair a country after a genocide, in a nation like Rwanda, where the killers and the survivors still live in the same neighborhoods, takes a lot of time, to say the least. It takes longer than the hundred days ...

I picked out a basket at Macy's and read the name of the artist to Rwanda's master weaver, Janet Nkubana. The weaver's name was sewn to the inside of the basket. Who is the woman who wove this, I asked? ...

I've been to Rwanda before. But I was never invited into a backyard. Now I know why. Janet Nkubana, Rwanda's master basket weaver, tells me the backyard is where the women of Rwanda gather. It's where they talk. It's where ...

When Rwanda's master basket weaver Janet Nkubana walked me through the symbolism of her basket's designs, the image you see here left a big impression. I asked her how long it took a weaver to get from the center knot ...

I love receiving holiday gifts. Especially when they’re gifts of knowledge. I feel like I received at least five gifts of knowledge when I met Janet Nkubana on a recent night. I hope you’ll let me share them with you ...

I learned something new today about Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s resume. I now know which line item most intrigues me. 1998: Co-Founder, Iranian Tunneling Association I did not know Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped found the Iranian Tunneling Association. I did not know ...

My wife broke the news to me. The mail just arrived. I’d received a letter. She didn’t have to say another word. It was less than 24 hours from the moment I’d turn 50. And there it was. The most ...

Forty-seven days before I turn 50, I must interrupt my mission to destroy my industry's worship of the 18-49 audience demo, to bring you urgent health news. Today, we're all part of the same demo. The Halloween demo. And there's ...

The first thing I did when we learned Michael Jackson died was to put together a series of YouTube links from the Jackson 5 and solo Michael for my children. Michael Jackson was the soundtrack of my childhood in the ...

My late father, a standup comic, had a line about breast feeding. “Studies show breast fed babies grow up to be more normal than bottle babies. I was a bottle baby. Now, I’m looking for a chance to become normal.” ...

Extreme parents don't necessarily take a break over the summer. Neither does Michael Thompson. "You know you're an extreme parent," he tells me, "if you send your child to camp for a month and then you go on the website ...

Everyone gets their first lesson in job creation when they're a child, whether they realize it or not. Our Economics Correspondent Christine Romans got hers in Iowa, sitting around the kitchen table with her grandparents on their farm.  She remembers ...

72 years ago, when John F. Kennedy was just 23, he was visiting Minnesota with his parents and was invited on to a local radio show. You’ll hear what he said about his aspirations – in his own voice – ...

The next Sandy is coming. Not tomorrow. But sooner and more often than we’d hope, say the experts, at least in part because of climate change. So the question for us as a nation now becomes, if we can’t stop ...

Higgs humor has humbled me. I thought I'd nailed it, when I wrote what could be the first original Higgs Boson joke ever here. But since this week's announcement that the Higgs particle has been found, there's been a wave ...

Here’s the name of the technique prosecutors have come up with to end prostitution as we know it. They call it "manual blocking.” Manual blocking is what a coalition of U.S. Attorneys General have pressured Craigslist to institute as a ...

I didn’t want Dick Clark to die. I want the myth that he spawned to die. Very few people know what I’m about to report. Clark bears responsibility for the obsessive quest to attract young audiences on television. He unwittingly ...

Sometimes an old message can provide a fresh perspective. A 1940s marketing film for DDT helped do just that for CNN producers as we began investigating the potential risks of toxic chemicals. In the hourlong special report "Toxic Childhood," Dr ...

From what I've read about college football, if you want to find a player with NFL potential - Kent State is generally not the first place on your list. There's talent there. But The Golden Flashes, as the Kent State ...

I’ve never heard Dr. Sanjay Gupta despair. Which is why it was so upsetting to hear him last night on AC360. Here’s what he told Anderson. “I feel a little hopeless,” said Sanjay. “And I hate saying that. I just ...

Here's what I want for Father's Day:  I want my children to develop a passion for science.  I've decided to grease the wheels.  I've called the best for advice.   His name is Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics ...

Sometimes to get a fresh perspective it’s best to turn to somebody old. That’s what we’ve done for this story on one of the biggest controversies over how to teach children tennis. With the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in full ...

The Valley of Death is Arlen Specter’s turf. It’s hard to keep track of how many times he has crossed it. This is true regarding his health. And, given the twists and turns of the past week, it is truer ...

“Killing me would not be in your interest.” So said the President of one of the most important countries on earth today. The quote is from the President of Madagascar. It was directed at members of an army faction that ...

As soon as I read today’s environmental headline, that nearly a third of America’s 800 bird species are in danger, I thought of the great sparrow massacre in China. On May 18, 1958, the Chinese dictator, Mao, erroneously convinced that ...

It wasn’t the Hudson River. It wasn’t a soft landing. It wasn’t a happy ending. When the Yemenia Airlines Airbus went down in the rough seas of the Indian Ocean, 152 people perished. Everyone on board. Everyone except a 14-year-old ...

And so it ended. Just like that. A six-word email that came across our desks at 11:15am: “Madoff has been remanded to jail.” There comes a time in many crime stories when the word “alleged” disappears. That’s what happened before ...

It was a little lie that was supposed to die young. That is Bernard Madoff’s version of how his investment company became the largest Ponzi scheme ever. “When I began the Ponzi scheme” Madoff told a U.S. District Court Judge ...

I wonder what would have happened if Harry Markopolos went to lunch at Bernard Madoff's Palm Beach Country Club in the fall of 2000, stood up in the dining room, and shouted "Madoff is a fraud!" I suspect Madoff's fellow ...

If anyone should know better, if anyone should have his guard up, you’d think it would be Elie Wiesel. “I should have learned,” he said, “that a human being is capable of anything.” Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor, does know what ...

That icicle hanging beneath BJ Kirschhoffer's nose is exactly what you think it is. Polar Bear researchers officially call them snotsicles. And it's what you get when it's about 50 below zero and you're outside for eight hours straight. The ...

As Al Gore was presenting his plan for making America a country that eliminates oil and coal in favor of 100 percent renewable energy – a small study we were tipped off to out of China this week points to ...

Now that President Obama has warned over and over that this economic crisis could turn into a “catastrophe” if Congress doesn’t act quickly on a stimulus package, I'm trying to get an image in my head of what “catastrophe” means ...

Don’t say that word! You know … “that famous term that everybody’s using,” as the United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger put it yesterday. He wouldn’t bring himself to actually utter the word “bailout,” which the people at Webster’s dictionary ...

Our CNN colleague, David Gergen, was giving a seminar on presidential speechwriting the day before the inauguration, and he said something that stuck: "One of Barack Obama's biggest challenges," he said, is to "keep patience alive." That original turn of ...

One of the most memorable quotes from Barack Obama came from a casual behind-the-scenes moment during the campaign. Candidate Obama, in an unguarded moment, recounted a question from a debate moderator who asked him what he’d personally done to go ...

Please look carefully at these two photos (on the following page) and ask yourself which you’d rather click on. Today’s Paris couture fashion show or New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The choice reminds me of the line in the movie ...

When a young mother named Marguerite Elisofon first contacted Dr. Stanley Greenspan, her baby daughter was interested in almost nothing. Samantha just stared into space. She was, said her mother, "in a distant land." Elisofon remembers thinking that maybe Greenspan ...

Sen. Arlen Specter woke at 4 a.m. one day last week with an excruciating headache, a side effect of chemotherapy. Ninety minutes later, he was on the squash court, playing a partner less than half his age. That's the way ...

Once you get Jim Huber's voice in your head, you can never get it out. Who would want to? Jim Huber wrote lullabies that could open your eyes. His essays on sports and life were short.  But never rushed. And, ...

It may be time to edit the script of the flight attendant whose brief finger wag is famous among Delta passengers. Her name is Katherine Lee. She looks like she was cast in Hollywood, but she’s a real Delta flight ...

The Tiger Woods story has triggered a memory that led me to two old photos. One photo is real. One is doctored. The Book of Laughter & Forgetting Tiger I read about the photos 30 years ago in the Czech ...

I just had lunch with a fat kid who took up running for laughs. He made the U.S. Olympic marathon team. Now, he’s a popular and influential running coach. And this week, after following him to the Whole Foods salad ...

I’m not going to mention any real names in this piece, even though I only got wind of one person’s first name. But I experienced something today in a CNN rest room which all of us have probably had to ...

Oh, did I have a close call this morning trying to stay germ free. I had just dropped off the kids at school and was driving to work when I sneezed. I have a cold. So, at the next red ...

This story is about how to know when to give up on a man, and when to stick with him. It's about Chris Johnson. I didn't know who Johnson was before this NFL season began. I haven't closely followed football ...

Forget the players. Forget the owners. Forget the fans. At least for the moment. Forget everyone, except the thousands of Americans who depend on the NBA to make a living. If the current collapse of negotiations between the National Basketball ...

What's the most important position in football? Who's the guy who we need to watch most closely to determine which way the Super Bowl will swing? I've been asking that question of every sports fan who knows more about football ...

I was hoping to post a story this morning called: “What Selecting a Jury Teaches Us About Targeting the Ideal Audience.” But I decided to take Michael Jackson’s advice instead. The story has to wait. Here’s why. The story I ...

Let me begin with my Facebook status update: I JUST PUT ON MY PANTS. THEY FIT WELL. There are two silent reactions my friends on Facebook might have. Which one do you think is more likely: a) I really trust ...

The other day I went to Sports Authority to buy a few ping pong balls for my children. I left with two arms full of high-tech athletic wear. I practically tripped over it: the mother lode of Under Armour. I ...

It’s going to be hard to keep your eyes off the photo in this piece. But the story of a construction worker’s thumb impaled by an 8 inch serrated blade provides me with a weapon in my final 50 days ...

You know what I like about the Internet trackers -- the ones that follow my every move on the Web? They care about me. They don't mind that I'm 50, that I've been kicked out of the prized 18-49 year ...

The last time I checked in with psychologist and school consultant Michael Thompson, "Tiger Mom" was making headlines for how she drove her children to succeed. Thompson gave us memorable vignettes from the front lines, including "You know you're an ...

Just as I'm about to turn 50, the Obama Administration and its allies in the Senate are pushing what's been dubbed Botax. A 5 percent tax on cosmetic procedures, like Botox injections and face lifts. I'm actually excited about turning ...

Extreme parents don't necessarily take a break over the summer. Neither does Michael Thompson. "You know you're an extreme parent," he tells me, "if you send your child to camp for a month and then you go on the website ...

Two hundred and fifty thousand or so Americans are expected to run and complete a half marathon this month. And I plan to be one of them on Saturday. It's my first half. But I have an advantage over all ...

As I was planning my father's memorial service for today I called his good friend and fellow comedian Freddie Roman, to arrange for a room at New York's traditional show business mecca – The Friar's Club. I told Freddie I ...