On Wednesday December 7th, for one night only, we hosted Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author, in conversation with former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and Jesse LaGreca, Occupy Wall Street activist and blogger at The Daily Kos. They discussed the fall and bailout of Wall Street, the perils of speaking truth to power, and the tough choices ahead for America. The event took place at Alliance Francaise, and was streamed live on FORA.
It’s been a while since I last wrote, and I hope you’re well and thriving in these fascinating times.
Occupy Wall Street, the currency crisis in Europe, the deep polarization of American politics, and the aftermath of the Arab Spring, are only a few signs of the historical shifts in which we’re living. Culture Project, an organization I highly respect and proudly support, casts an artistic spotlight on social injustice and is at the forefront of crucial conversations.
On June 10th 2011, I produced a conversation with the The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers at the Urban Zen Foundation. Pls see the review here.
The grandmothers offered their wisdom, teachings, and prayers for staying in balance during these tumultuous times. They walk the spiritual world with practical feet, inspiring joyful service. To close the evening the grandmothers provided personal healing sessions to all those interested.
Our first conversation of 2011 took place at Norwood on February 25th. I talked to the global adventurer-scholar Parag Khanna, whose latest book How to Run The World is a bold account of our current global chaos as well as a road map for creating a truly resilient and stable world.
For those of you who don’t know Khanna, he is the Director of The Global Governance Initiative at the New America Foundation, has spoken at TED (about the root causes of border conflicts worldwide), and was named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st Century by Esquire. He is also the author of The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order(2008).
According to Khanna, the world is entering a perfect storm of calamities: environmental stress, scarce natural resources, financial instability, historic political shifts in the Middle East (most recently, of course, the pro-Democracy movements in Egypt and Tunisia), and ultimately failing states. In our current multi-polar, multi-civilizational world, every empire, city-state, multi-national corporation or mercenary army is out for itself. He argues that in some respects, what we face now isn’t much different from that medieval landscape of almost a millennium ago.
Later in the evening Khanna’s wife Ayesha will introduce the Hybrid Reality Institute, an innovative think-tank that explores the co-evolution between humans and technology and the implications for society, business and politics. The Khannas, who founded the institution last year, will explain the relevance of their findings.The event is free and starts at 6.30pm. Norwood maintains a very strict door policy, and capacity is limited, so please RSVP here.
Every once in a while I produce an event for a client which I think may be of interest to you too. I’m now working on the Kick-Off Fundraiser for the KARPOV2010 Campaign. The goal of this campaign is to elect the twelfth world chess champion, Anatoly Karpov, as President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The party will take place on Monday May 17th at the Trump Soho in New York.
Former World Champion Garry Kasparov will appear as special guest. He has not only been noted as one of the greatest minds in history by Newsweek (the other one being Einstein), but he’s also a major political leader and a monthly columnist for the Wall Street Journal. Magnus Carlsen, the current World Number One, will also be there.
At the party, we’ll auction off a host of unique prizes, including the chance to play a consultation game alongside Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen; the opportunity to challenge Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov in a speed match; two business class tickets to Moscow to have dinner with Mr. Karpov; and much more…
Mr. Karpov, who is flying in from Russia, is campaigning under a program of unity and positive change. His superior talents as a chess champion and unique experience as UNICEF Ambassador make him the ideal leader to return the sport to prominence on the global stage.
Mr. Karpov’s status and dedication will allow him to unify the chess world and to expand the reach of chess in classrooms throughout the world. He has already attracted worldwide grassroots support as well as a prominent leadership team and an advisory panel of unmatched international caliber.
For anyone who loves chess, this will be a unique experience to meet the superstars of the chess world. There will also be an open bar, delicious food, and of course, chess!
