On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is renaissance man Stephen Fry, which by that alone should make clear that his conversation with host Peter Sagal will cover a wide swath of ground, and be thoroughly interesting, in that he’s a wonderful raconteur of pretty much…well, everything. Their chat covers his narrating the Harry Potter books in England, hosting a quiz show himself and (as Sagal notes) answering even the simplest questions in depth.
Once more, this the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but if you want to jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it started around the 18:45 mark.
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On this week’s Al Franken podcast, he goes full entertainment -- or largely entertainment, given his guest’s interests and activities -- because his guest is Norman Lear about his 99 years on the planet.” As Al notes, he talks with “the legendary creator of groundbreaking TV sit coms -– All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Sons, The Jeffersons, et al, on flying 50 bombing missions in WWII, the joy of comedy and, dare I say, satire.” I don't think this is one of Al's best interviews -- he's much too much of a fan here, but it's a treat hearing Norman Lear and his stories.
We haven't had a Mystery Guest segment for a while, so let's correct that. In fairness, this isn't an actual Mystery Guest, but one who might be familiar to somebody on the panel, and so they have to use blindfolds. The guest here is Dick Kollmar, who was a Broadway producer, including of the hit musical Plain and Fancy, which starred Barbra Cook right before she did The Music Man, but why this segment is such particular fun is that he's also the husband of panelist Dorothy Kilgallen. The show seemed to like doing this to her, since they also had her father (a well-known newspaperman) on as a guest, as well as her two children together. Making it additionally fun is that one of the panelists is Fred Allen. This is the full show. Dick Kollmar is the first guest, so you can either just watch from the start or jump to the 2:45 mark. It didn’t get much attention at the time -- and I was busy here writing about other issues that kept cropping up, waiting to address it -- but three weeks ago the Biden Administration did something critical that was largely ignored during the Trump years, whether through apathy or intent. But there was a major meeting at the White House to deal with cybersecurity in the country. And among the top business executives in attendance were some significant heavyweights: the leaders of Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and IBM. At issue was how government and business can work together on cybersecurity.
Afterwards, the White House put out a press release that the National Institute of Standards and Technology “will collaborate with industry and other partners to develop a new framework to improve the security and integrity of the technology supply chain." More importantly, several of the company already pledged significant involvement. Among them: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company will invest $20 billion on security solutions over the next 5 years, along with $150 million “to help US government agencies upgrade protections and expand our cybersecurity training partnerships." Google CEO Sundar Pichai said they would over $10 billion during the next five years in cybersecurity efforts, among them helping secure the supply chain and strengthening open-source security. Additionally, Google will expand "zero-trust" programs, whereby companies don't automatically trust any person or device. And also, they pledged to train 100,000 Americans in tech support and data analytics – and they said they would train another 10 million Americans in a range of digital skills over the next two years. And IBM said that it would train 150,00 people in cybersecurity by the end of 2024. Clearly, this is not The Solution – nor are these the only initiatives to come out of the meeting. But given the lack of attention on cybersecurity by the government over the past four years, it’s a strong start on something so deeply necessary. As we finish Yom Kippur, which ends tonight at sundown, I thought I'd get this in under the wire. It's the song "Avinu Malkeinu" which comes at the very end of the service. This was one of my mother's favorite songs for the High Holidays, and it's sung wonderfully here by 13 cantors from around the world. I find some of the visual editing a little distracting, but not the singing. Avinu Malkeinu means "Our Father, Our King," and the prayer itself is basically one of supplication, while also asking God for compassion whether or not it's deserved. It can be recited throughout the year, though the prayer is an important part of 10 days of the High Holidays starting with Rosh Hashanah and notably sung at the end of the service atoning at the start of the new year. Or something like that. There are many variations, and even verses, whose order I think maybe can even be flexible, and the different denominations handle it their own way. For all the well-deserved attention on the stories leaked from the new book Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, as much as the ones about General Mark Milley dealing with China to protect the country against Trump were the most critical, what struck me most was the exchange Milley had with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. “He’s crazy. You know he’s crazy,” said Speaker Pelosi. “He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness.” To which Gen. Milley replied, “I agree with you on everything.” What leaps out as so important to me about that is it’s the foundation for Milley’s later actions. And it’s as blunt as you can get, coming as it does in a private conversation. No polite expression in public to dance around an awkward sensibility. No, just flat out -- “He’s crazy. You know he’s crazy. He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness.” Clearly, too, this is not meant euphemistically, nor hyperbolically. But literally. Now, of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and General Mark Milley are not licensed psychologists, so it’s just amateur analysis. But it’s amateur only from a psychological standpoint – they’re expressing very professional observations from the long high-ranking experience in their jobs in Congress and in the military. Further, one has to keep in mind that both Pelosi and Milley have dealt with Trump in ways that we’ve never seen – in private, behind closed doors. Where any protective guards that Trump might work hard to put up in public are let down so he can be himself. And he was crazy enough in public. One can only imagine the depths of his mania, especially hearing the Speaker and General. Two other things about the exchange stand out for me. The first is that neither General Milley nor Speaker Pelosi have denied the conversation, or even anything about it. So, yes, everybody, yes, I called him crazy. You know he’s crazy. He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness. And yes, I agreed with her on everything. It’s one thing for Nancy Pelosi to be fine with acknowledging the full exchange – we pretty much know her sense of Trump from her many public statements, even if they weren’t this blunt. But for a general in the army and White House Chief of Staff, who’s spent most of his public life being as taciturn as possible, his confirmation is noteworthy. And the other thing that leaps out to me is how on earth did Woodward and Costa get that exchange – and get it word-for-word right. I have no idea, but why that’s important is that when reporters gets something that private and newsworthy, it gives credence to all of their work All the more so since General Milley has confirmed all their other stories about him, Trump and China. Peril, indeed. And thankfully we got passed that. And how wonderful that it’s on the record, for whatever is to come from Trump. But again, as always, this is not about Trump – we know who he is, and that’s he’s crazy. As do Republicans in Congress, especially Republicans leaders. This is about the Republican Party who enabled the crazy Trump and supported him and his crazy fascism for four years, and still do. Knowing that he’s crazy. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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