Mike Salamon's blog

A couple months ago, I wrote about the new book from NDN's good friend, Andrei Cherny, titled The Candy Bombers:The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour. Since that time, the book has been garnering a great deal of acclaim. Praise for Andrei's work is coming fast and furious right now, and it is especially timely as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama prepares to deliver an historic speech in Berlin tomorrow.

Just to give you a sampling of some of the press the book has garnered recently:

• Ruth Marcus has an article in today's Washington Post about The Candy Bombers in which she draws some very interesting parallels between Berlin in 1948 and Baghdad today.
• Andrei was recently interviewed by NPR's Ari Shapiro about the book and the airlift. You can listen to the audio here.
• Last week, CBS News released an analysis written by U.S. News and World Report columnist Michael Barone about lessons learned from post-war Germany that can be applied to Iraq today.

And just as a reminder, in addition to this great book, Andrei also is co-editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. NDN is a proud, long-time supporter of this important publication, and I highly recommend giving it a thorough read whenever you have a chance.

One more shout out: Andrei joined Simon and NDN Green Project Director Michael Moynihan on an NDN panel over the weekend in Austin, Texas, at Netroots Nation. The panel, "A New Era of Possibility: Looking at America's Role in the World After the Bush Presidency," explored the idea that the Bush years have been ones of great disappointment for America, that mistakes have been made and that great challenges have gone unaddressed. In a world that has seen the rise of nations like China, India, Brazil, and Mexico and the emergence of a powerful, global communications network, the next President will have to restore America's standing in the world, tackle climate change, help to move the world to a post-carbon economy, work to alleviate global poverty, as well as address ongoing geopolitical challenges.

Andrei had the opportunity to discuss his book and talk about how many of the historical lessons he learned in writing the book that still apply today.

This Wednesday in New York, Simon Rosenberg will be hosting a political briefing at the Loews Regency Hotel. The briefing will begin at 8:00 AM and last about an hour. If you will be in NY and would like to attend, you can RSVP here.

Next week Simon is on to Chicago, where on Saturday the 28th he'll be addressing the kick off event for the New Americans Initiative of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

And looking further ahead in the future, I'm very excited to announce that it's been finalized for Simon to speak at two panels at the NetRoots Nation conference in July in Austin, TX. Check back here in the coming weeks for more information about the conference and Simon's role in it.

Rob Shapiro, Chair of NDN's Globalization Initiative, is taking the long flight to Stockholm, Sweden this week for a talk he's giving on Wednesday on globalization at the Stockholm School of Economics. This is an exciting opportunity for Rob to take his thoughts on the topic to an international audience, so be sure to check back for more info and analysis after he returns.

To get a taste of Rob speaking on globalization, check out Maggie's post about his appearance on NPR this morning.

NDNers will be making various appereances today that you should look out or tune in for:

First up, at 12:20 p.m. ET (9:20 a.m. PT) Simon will be doing a live interview on KCBS Radio in San Francisco. He will be on the air for about 5-10 minutes with their morning news anchors, Stan Bunger and Susan Leigh Taylor.

Yesterday morning, Simon was on C-SPAN for a full half hour taking questions, both from the host and viewers calling in, on the impact of Hispanics on this year's campaign. You can now watch the video of of his appearance here. 

And as I mentioned in my post earlier this week, Andres will be speaking in Denver today on a panel of The State of Latinos: 2008 Colorado Town Hall Meeting.

Yesterday saw some of NDN's friends garnering great coverage in two of the country's leading newspapers:

E.J. Dionne had an excellent op-ed article in The Washington Post yesterday about patriotism. In the piece, he quotes the authors of The New Patriot, Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer, about their thoughts on the topic. NDN President Simon Rosenberg consulted with Eric and Nick during the writing of this book and it is standard reading for all NDN staff. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend picking up a copy.

Additionally, a New York Times article by John Harwood highlights the analytical work of NDN's good friend Ruy Teixeira on white working class voters, particularly his book America's Forgotten Majority: Why The White Working Class Still Matters. This is a topic that's extremely relevant in the current electoral climate and the book is informative, insightful, and extremely timely as we move toward November 4th.

On Thursday, Andres Ramirez, NDN's Vice President of Hispanic Programs, is speaking in Denver at The State of Latinos: 2008 Colorado Town Hall Meeting. This forum, being hosted by Fundacion Azteca America and Grupo Salinas, will allow national community leaders and a live studio audience to express the concerns of the Latino community. As we have been saying here at NDN, the Hispanic vote will be critical to the election in November and this forum will help vocalize the issues and concerns that will be driving that vote. We're excited that Andres will be involved in this event and we look forward to what it will accomplish.

NDN staff have two major speaking gigs on Thursday that you should keep an eye out for.

Here in DC, Simon Rosenberg and Andres Ramirez will be speaking at a conference hosted by MATT (Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together). They will be discussing immigration laws and how currently proposed legislation could affect the U.S. economy as well as other themes of our Hispanic Strategy Center. The conference will be at the Reserve Officers Association building on Constitution Avenue and Simon will be speaking at 10:30 AM EST.

Out on the West Coast, NPI's Peter Leyden will be participating in a panel, "Towards Open Source Politics - the Impact of Technological Innovations on Democratic Processes," at the yearly Innovation Journalism Conference at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. Pete will be speaking on Thursday at 4:30 PM PST. Click here for more information on The Fifth Conference on Innovative Journalism.

Stay tuned for transcripts after the speeches take place.

Continuing the Colbert theme, Andrei Cherny, a great friend of NDN's and a member of our extended family, will be appearing on The Colbert Report tomorrow night to promote his new book The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour. Check local listings for times.

The book has been doing really well so far, but a sit down with Mr. Colbert is always interesting, so wish Andrei luck and be sure to tune in.

We're excited to announce the hiring of our 2008 Summer Intern Team. To those who applied, thank you so much. We received many highly qualified applicants and have chosen six students who we are confident will be valuable assets to the organization. Without further delay, here they are:

Andrew Scott--Globalization. Andrew has been at NDN for the ongoing spring semester in the same capacity and we're all excited he'll be staying on for the next few months. A native of Knoxville, TN, he is currently finishing up his junior year at George Washington University here in DC. His extra-curricular activities on campus include serving as President and co-founder of GW Discourse, a student run political science quaterly.

Shana Hurley--Political/Research. Shana is approaching the end of her sophomore year at Tufts Univeristy in Massachussetts. She is highly engaged in the political scene on campus, serving as co-director of Tufts Votes, a voter registration and mobilization group, and as secretary of the College Democrats. She is a native of Weston, CT.

Carolina Rizzo--Hispanic Strategy Center. Originally from Uruguay, Carolina will be graduating from the University of Michigan in December. Currently Carolina is living in DC and interning for the United Nations Information Center, she has also worked previously as a media analyst specializing in Latin American newspapers.

Mattie Walker--Development. A native of Allen, TX currently finishing up her junior year at Oklahoma State University, Mattie will be a welcome addition to the Development team this summer. Her community involvement on campus includes twice serving as a chairperson for the Race for the Cure, serving on the board of the local College Democrats, and as the head of alumni relations for her sorority.

Laura Weakland--Events. Laura is preparing to graduate this month from Millersville University in her home state of Pennsylvania. She leaves undergrad and joins NDN's Events team with an extensive resume, including such highlights as being President of the College Democrats, volunteering for the Lancaster County Democratic Party, and interning in the University's Office of Global Education.

Will Willace--Communications/Website. Will is a rising senior at Princeton University where he is active in many on-campus organizations, including the College Democrats. Will has written about and heavily researched immigration and trade issues, and at NDN he will be working on communications and the website. This is actually Will's second time around with us, as he previously was part of our intern team last summer. When not in school, he calls Great Falls, VA his home.

We'd like to welcome this great group aboard. Keep an eye out for content from all of them on the blog as they begin to get settled in over the next month.

We just want to give you a heads up that NDN will be hosting (and participating in) some truly exciting conferences that are coming up this week and next:

April 15-16 - World Economic Forum: Tomorrow, Simon will be flying down to Cancun, Mexico where he will be participating on a panel at the World Economic Forum on Latin America on April 15 and 16. The panel, taking place on the morning of April 16, is entitled "New Leadership in the Americas." The topic of the panel is how multinational businesses are adapting to the evolving world's increased global mobility, and what businesses are doing and could be doing to have a positive social impact across borders. Many of the world's leading economic thinkers and business leaders will be in attendance at the conference, and Simon will have an opportunity to share with them NDN's views on making globalization work for all of the world's citizens, as well as discuss U.S. policy toward Latin America.

April 16 - Understanding the Cleantech Investment Opportunity: Is all the hype behind the investment opportunity in green technology justified? Or is clean technology potentially another bubble? Learn the answers to these important questions on Wednesday, April 16, in New York City, when NDN Green Project Director Michael Moynihan hosts a panel with leading clean technology experts on "Understanding the Cleantech Investment Opportunity." the panel will feature Peter C. Fusaro, Chairman and Founder of Global Change Associates, best selling author of What Went Wrong At Enron and perhaps the world's leading expert on clean technology funds, and well-known analyst David Kurzman, Senior Vice President of the Clean Technology Research Group at Panel Intelligence, LLC. The panel will get to the heart of the green technology issue from an investment perspective and discuss various policy approaches to climate change including cap and trade, a carbon tax, the solar tax credit and other investment incentives. The event will start at 12 p.m. at the Regency Hotel's Regency Room at 540 Park Ave, New York, NY. Get more information off our website, or RSVP here.

April 17 - Discussion with the authors of Millenial Makover: On Thursday, NDN will host an event in San Francisco which will be devoted to one of our main narratives: that the Millenial Generation is reshaping the American electorate in unprecedented ways. Keeping the focus on their new book, Michael Hais and Morley Winograd, coauthors of Millennial Makeover: Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics, will discuss the impact of the rising Millennial Generation and how it could bring about a rare, historic realignment within the party. The event will take place from 6-8 PM at The Fairmont Hotel. Get further information and RSVP here.

April 24 - Re-Imagine Video: Television, the dominant media of politics, is going through historic and profound change. More people watch cable today than broadcast. By the end of the year, about a third of all homes will have a DVR, and 60 percent of those with a DVR skip all television commercials. More and more people are watching commercial TV on the web. The big TV networks are moving to a year round schedule. And of course there is much, much more. To discuss all this the New Politics Institute is bringing together leading private sector practitioners to discuss the profound and historic ways television is changing. The event will take place in DC at the Phoenix Park Hotel from 12 PM to 2 PM. You can read up on the exciting list of speakers and RSVP here.

And of course, be sure to check back on the blog for updates and recaps of these events as they happen.