Long-time readers of these pages know well of my friend from childhood, the accomplished Nell Minow who I write about often here -- from her own many skills as a world expert on corporate governance (having testified before Congress and winning awards for it) and top-notch film critic as the Movie Mom (even having filled in for Roger Ebert on occasion) to her sister Martha, former dean of Harvard Law, who once recommended to her lawyer father that he hire the smartest student she'd ever taught, a young man named Barack Obama, to that very father Newton, who did hire young Mr. Obama, was his early mentor and had been the FCC Chairman under JFK, famously calling television a "vast wasteland."
All these same readers also know well about my high school and college friend, Rabbi Jack Moline, who I most notably wrote about here, and who not only serves as a corporate board member of Elisberg Industries (you can check that out above under "About Elisberg Industries") and is a well-regarded Chicago Cubs fan, but in his other side jobs was a rabbi in the Washington, D.C. area for many years at Agudas Achim Congregation, until he was made Executive Director of the National Democratic Jewish Council, and then in 2016 became President of the Interfaith Alliance. Which I guess makes him Mr. President Rabbi Jack Moline. (Fun fact: he also participated in the emoluments lawsuit against Trump's ownership of his hotel in Washington, the one that used to be a post office.) It's one thing to write about these two fine folks, of course, but another to see and hear them. And now you not only get to see and hear them -- but both together! During the pandemic, as part of his job leading the Interfaith Alliance, Jack has begun a streaming webseries called "Stay Home, Stay Focused," where he interviews various important figures across the country. And the other day, his guest was...as he puts it...his old friend from high school, Nell Minow! (I should note that their separate accomplishments aside, Jack and I did a weekly radio show together at New Trier East High School on WNTH-FM, about comedy. We also worked together on the school musical revue, Lagniappe, for which he was head writer. In fact, when we later attended Northwestern University, we adapted a radio documentary we'd made in high school, "What Makes People Laugh?" for a class project in interpersonal communications -- at the end of which he hit me in the face with a pie, much to the shock and uproarious laughter of the class. Not to be left out, Nell and I had a class together at Northwestern, as well, on radio production. It built to a class project at the end where the students created a one-day fictitious radio station, for which the professor made Nell one of the two station managers. Radio does appear to a be thread weaving things together...) Actually, in some ways this a bonus trilogy. That's because early on in the interview, Jack and Nell talk about her husband and childhood sweetheart David Apatoff, an accomplished attorney and an expert in the art of cartooning with eight books on the subject -- and early in my life knew David even better than I did Jack and Nell, since he lived just down the block from me in Glencoe, Illinois. In fact, much to my huge surprise David still (correctly) remembers details from my birthday party when I turned eight. Alas, he does not pop in and make an appearance in the video, though shows up by discussion. (Someone else who appears by discussion in the video, as well, much to my even greater surprise is -- me. Nether Jack nor Nell happened to mention this fact, so it came totally out of the blue as I was watching. It actually relates to an article I originally wrote for the Huffington Post but reposted here on Elisberg Industries, which I linked to above in the very first line...before I even knew the piece was quoted in the conversation.) And so there you have it -- Nell Minow and Jack Moline on video together! Such things don't get a whole lot better. You get to see them both. The very entertaining conversation (that covers business, movies, high school and more) is only 20-minutes long, so it's not a big pull on your time, though listening to either person separately could easily fill up far longer. The two of them together, this barely touches the service and is almost unfair it doesn't last longer. But then, you can always play it again and again... O joy. A happy addition to Elisberg Industries. No longer do you have to take my word for it -- now you can see on your own, in one sitting together, what wonderful, whip-smart, absolutely charming and compassionate people they are.
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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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