Month: March 2014

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EPISODE #105 “Swimming Gene Pools” 03-31-14

This week on “Books du Jour,” our guests bring some controversy to the table.  Conversations move around such topics as the 10,000-hours theory that could turn an average athlete into a world athlete, unless you have the perfect genetic makeup and can bypass the process.

David Epstein, in “The Sports Gene,” addresses this sort of issues in a highly entertaining book.  How much of our genes define our chances to succeed  in sports?

David M. Howitt, in “Heed you Call,” circles back to the hero’s journey as defined by Joseph Campbell, to show that putting our mind into a specific coveted endeavor may well yield the results sought after.  Are a strong will and awareness enough to achieve our goals?

Giovanni Frazzetto, in “Joy, Guilt, Anger, and Love,” looks at the impact of neuroscience on emotions.  Can science really teach us to better understand ourselves, predict our behaviors and reactions by looking inside our brain?  The best way to find out the answers to all these tricky questions is to tune in tonight.

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“Books du Jour” is gaining momentum.  Perhaps you already have seen the poster campaign in the streets of NY as well as in the subway cars initiated by our co-producers and channel broadcaster, NYC Media and LIFE 25.  The campaign kicked off just a week ago.  The celebration of well-deserved authors and their books.  Thank you all for your support and the belief in our literary program.

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EPISODE #104  “Inside the Scents” 03-24-14

This week on “Books du Jour,” our guests gather around a table at City Winery to discuss the scent of their new book and share some musing.  Mark Slouka, Lara Vapnyar, Edmund White.

One of the most interesting aspects about scents is that they are always intimately tied to a location and more particularly to soils.  Our three guests carry a distinctive sense of place.

Mark Slouka, “Brewster,” writes about Brewster, NY, a poignant novel of coming of age, based in the late 60s’, about a young man seeking his place in this small country town.  There is little wandering outside the borders.

Lara Vapnyar complicates the issue of identity by straddling two continents and two time frames.  Her “Scent of Pine,” moves back and forth between the outskirts of Moscow and the countryside of Maine.

Edmund White, on the other hand, with “Inside a Pearl,” which refers to Paris, the French capital, continues his peripatetic wandering through the French cultural corridors.  His sense of place is about relocation and shifting identity.

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EPISODE #103  “Of Power and Executives” broadcasting tonight 03-17-14, on LIFE 25 at 9:30 pm.

This week host, Frederic Colier, looks into the nature of executive power and the power of executives.  His first guest is Mike Offit, “Nothing Personal,” a first time thriller writer who wrote a coming of age story about a wiz kid on Wall street who learns how far he can get away with the power he has been entrusted with.

Historian Harlow Giles Unger looks at George Washington’s presidency and the US constitution that left him pretty much a lame duck to rule in “Mr. President.”  To pursue his own agenda Washington made ample use of his executive power and set up a precedent for all the presidents thereafter.

Finally, Judith Glaser “Conversational Intelligence” deals with a new aspect of the digital society where the hierarchical power structure is quickly eroding, and communication no longer works from the top down.

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EPISODE #102 – “Give Peace Freedom” 03-10-14  at 9:30 pm on LIFE 25

This week, host, Frederic Colier, invites Lodro Rinzler, “Walk Like a Buddha” .  Director of the Center for Compassion, Lodro tackles the everyday issues normally not discussed in spiritual circles.  What about drinking, smoking and sexual desires?

Stanton Peele, “Recover” goes against the 12-step program and discusses his PERFECT program, which empowers substance addicted individuals.  Stanton teaches personal responsibility and self-acceptance.

Finally Billy Hayes, the very maverick who wrote the story of his ordeal in Turkish prison, “Midnight Express, comes back with “The Midnight Express Letters,” a book about the letters he wrote while in jail and which show his individual grow and spiritual journey.

Episode was shot at PicNic Market