Special Optimistic Edition   Play Emily Bazelon & Melinda Henneberger November 20 + show topics Is Hillary too much of a neocon to be Obama’s SecState? Will Bill once again torpedo Hillary’s dreams? Will Obama push Catholics out of the hospital business? Emily fears abortion clinics will be forced to hire pro-life saboteurs The trouble with laws that tell doctors what to say Psyching Up and Psyching Out   Play Jonathan Chait & Reihan Salam November 19 + show topics Obama’s mandate and the “agenda game” The misinterpreted mandates of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich Why Clinton’s fiscal discipline is a bad model for Obama Jon says Democrats now have the winning tax argument Is Reihan’s reformist GOP agenda already doomed? Why middle-class Americans are becoming economic populists Toward a Reality-Based GOP   Play Jay Rosen & Conor Friedersdorf November 18 + show topics Why Jay founded the citizen-journalist website OffTheBus Culture11: a demilitarized zone for the right The epic failure of McCain’s press strategy Conor says the right needs journalists, not advocates Could there be a right-wing version of the netroots? Will conservatives rally around Sarah Palin or Ross Douthat? Wacky Historical Footnote Edition   Play Noam Scheiber & Ben Smith November 18 + show topics Problems with a Madame Secretary Clinton Will feminist objections keep Larry Summers out of Treasury? Why Obama is hiring so many Clintonites The MSM was wrong (and Obama was right) about defining McCain Does Palin have any chance of a national comeback? Will Obama be incremental or transformational? The Wonder Years   Play Brink Lindsey & David Frum November 17 + show topics How Harvard Law schoolmates Brink and David grew apart Ronald Reagan and the beginning of the conservative era The hazy, crazy ‘70s: when the left went wrong David drives down Memory Lane—in a Gremlin Sarah Palin and the end of the conservative era David tries to win back a forlorn Brink Free Will: Strange Fruit   Play Kerry Howley & Kenan Malik November 17 + show topics Benefits and harms of racial categorization Is racism inevitable? The folly of racial authenticity Kenan’s pro-immigration, anti-multiculturalist stance Is saving a dying language just romantic hogwash? How Salman Rushdie’s detractors lost the battle but won the war Even Further Beyond the Hart-Dworkin Debate   Play Brian Leiter & Scott Shapiro November 16 + show topics A short primer on legal philosophy Hart’s legal positivism vs. Dworkin’s (quasi-)natural law theory Explaining theoretical disagreement: a challenge for positivism Is theoretical disagreement so rare it needs no explanation? Can a novel way of interpreting law be offered in good faith? Brian and Scott explain why they are positivists UN Plaza: From Sudan To Hip-Hop Stardom   Play Mark Leon Goldberg & C. Karim Chrobog November 15 + show topics Karim’s forthcoming documentary, “War Child” Emmanuel Jal: charismatic child soldier turned hip-hop artist Jal’s two months wandering in the desert The story of Jal’s savior, Emma McCune What Jal’s music sounds like A revelatory homecoming Science Saturday: Live From Planet Krypton   Play Jennifer Ouellette & Chad Orzel November 15 + show topics Chad traps atoms In defense of doing science at a small college Chad dances like a monkey, talks to his dog Jennifer bridges the worlds of science and entertainment The confused physics of Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem” What’s wrong with bloggers selling out to the man? The Week in Blog: Pesci vs. De Niro   Play Bill Scher & Conn Carroll November 14 + show topics Does Obama’s victory show America is a nation of lefties? Baucus’s health care proposal heartens Bill Conn fears a government takeover of Detroit’s auto industry Can conservative reformers do without Hannity and Limbaugh? Did Bush betray conservatism? Will it matter in 2012? Joe Lieberman vs. the netroots The Age of Obama   Play John McWhorter & Glenn Loury November 13 + show topics Will Obama’s presidency make life easier for bookish black teens? Policy implications of the first black president “Hussein”: from slur to badge of honor Has Obama transformed America’s problem with race? Glenn takes a spin as Obama’s Cassandra… …but still can’t help feeling the love

more diavlogs

nikkibong: Just another stimulating diavlog 

bjkeefe: Nice one, Bob 

Whatfur: Take a bow, gentlemen! 

uncle ebeneezer: Eli Lake on the GOP's woes 

nikkibong: How to begin your Obama impersonation 

mvantony: What happens when John McWhorter forgets to shave 

Joel_Cairo: Phones are for wimps; these guys listen through the wall 

BeachFrontView: Christopher Hitchens unleashes his fabled grandiloquence 

uncle ebeneezer: Blink and you'll miss it... 

nikkibong: We give you Bob Wright: the next Mike Wallace 

Joel_Cairo: Megan Carpentier has a hunch 

nikkibong: Astronomy humor 

uncle ebeneezer: We hope you're watching, Obama 

Mr. Mayhem: Don't fret, Bob. We're impressed too. 

osmium: An oldie but a goodie (and still relevant!) 

Simon Willard: An insidious prejudice that's harming Obama 

mvantony: Jackie Shire critiques Bob's commencement address 

bjkeefe: BhTV-approved promo for Will Wilkinson's weekly show 

graz: You don't want to know what's in Mickey's coffee 

Joel_Cairo: Does anyone have an aspirin for Bill Scher? 

Wonderment: Mickey's non-apology apology 

graz: Why Reihan doesn't go to the gym 

Joel_Cairo: Some subjects make Bob really uncomfortable 

bjkeefe: So that's the way to increase pageviews 

osmium: Is this why everyone's angry at Russia? 

AemJeff: Two philosophers discuss blog commenters 

nikkibong: A good question for 7.5 years' worth of officials 

bjkeefe: True Confessions 

uncle ebeneezer: A new name for Europeans? 

Eastwest: Althousian Darwinism 

nikkibong: Ana Marie Cox pulls a Rudy 

uncle ebeneezer: Will Wilkinson's personal ad? 

look: Byron York: Obama's newest surrogate