Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel talks with Oprah Winfrey about the little sister he lost in the Holocaust. Plus: Watch another video where Weisel opens up about losing his life savings in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
Wiesel will be interviewed by Institute of Politics Director David Axelrod at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel on Wednesday, May 22, at 6 p.m. What should we ask him? Reblog this post and add your question now—or Tweet @UChiPolitics with the hashtag #wieseluchicago.
A glimpse into the former life of IOP Fellow Jon Favreau, President Obama’s longtime chief speechwriter until earlier this year.
Come hear more of his stories—and those of IOP Fellow Chris Lu and other former White House staffers—tonight! 6:30 p.m. at the Quad Club Dining Room. Register: http://bit.ly/13n8h2W
TONIGHT at 6:30 p.m.: IOP Fellows Jon Favreau, Chris Lu and a few of their former colleagues at the White House talk about life inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) P.S. Can someone please ask a question about the First Dog during the Q&A?
Register now: http://bit.ly/13n8h2W
Psy, who claims the Internet’s most popular video of all time, is an apt pitchman for “The New Digital Age,” a new book by Google’s Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen.
Catch the authors on Wednesday at Booth 104. Tix: http://bit.ly/ZEZaq2
Dozens of government agencies impose significant paperwork burdens, but one stands above all others: the Department of the Treasury. That department accounts for 6.7 billon annual hours, which is nearly 75 percent of the total. No other agency accounts for more than 6 percent….
The Treasury Department is the national paperwork champion for one reason: It houses the Internal Revenue Service. As Congress starts to explore tax reform, it should begin with a project that ought to attract bipartisan support: a focused effort to slash the immense paperwork burden imposed by government in general and the tax system in particular.
In this New York Times opinion piece, former White House regulatory czar (and former UChicago law prof) Cass Sunstein talks about one way to reduce the government’s paperwork burden.
Come hear more of his ideas at the Law School today at 12:30 p.m. Lunch is provided, and there are a few more seats left. Register now: http://bit.ly/YjFJHQ
Cass Sunstein: [The USDA’s new “food plate” is] very simple. People can eat steak and chocolate if that’s what you want. The food plate says make half your plate fruits and vegetables, and you’d probably be on the right track. It’s like a GPS, it tells you what the right track is. But if you wanna go meandering on the street, maybe get lost, maybe you enjoy that, you can ignore your GPS.
Stephen Colbert: Right, right. But the GPS also judges you. It does. If you don’t follow the GPS’ route, it goes, “Recalculating… Recalculating your weight.”
Watch the full interview with the former White House regulatory czar (and former UChicago law prof) above, and join him for lunch on May 14 at 12:30 p.m. at the Law School, to discuss his new book, “Simpler: The Future of Government. For more info, and to register, click here.
Sagal, who hadn’t been on a motorcycle for 20 years, geared up for the assignment with riding lessons in a parking lot by the United Center, “doing my little figure 8s and learning how to stop and start again. I got my license by a hair,” he said.
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The final episode includes Sagal clutching an Asian carp plucked from the Illinois River, illustrating a governmental debate about what should be done to keep the aquatic invader from infiltrating the Great Lakes.
Read the full Sun-Times story (link above) about Sagal’s new doc series, and come hear him speak at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 13, at the Quad Club.
Eli Attie, former writer for “The West Wing,” on the similarities between Barack Obama and the character of Matt Santos:
“There were moments where it was eerie to me… where the similarities were almost a little bit creepy… an odd case of art imitating life, imitating art, imitating life.”
Come hear Attie speak at Jon Favreau’s Fellows Seminar at 4:30 p.m.—and again at West Wing Wednesday, 9 p.m. at the IOP House.
Some telling numbers from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University (click the link above for more):
Learn more about these trends—and the challenges and opportunities facing women leaders—tonight. Tix and more info: http://bit.ly/11XGovK
Some great quotes from the trailer:
“[The Constitution] is like the big bang. It’s the most momentous thing to happen in the modern world.”
“The cracks are showing in the bill of rights, and I think technology is putting them there.”
“This is the land of the free…. Then why are our rights so complicated?”
The first episode of Peter Sagal’s new series, “Constitution USA,” debuts tonight! In the four-part documentary, Sagal—the witty host of NPR’s “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!”—travels the country by motorcycle in search of how the U.S. Constitution works and how it doesn’t; how it unites us as a nation and how it has nearly torn us apart. Watch the trailer (see the link above), and join us on Monday, May 13, at the Quad Club. Registration is full, but join the wait list.
