HISTORY Plays Carnegie Hall: Clinton, Bush, and More Talk Then, Now, and Next

The event amp8212 which culminated with authorhistorian Doris Kearns Goodwin interviewing Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush amp8212 had a wowfactor of quotlegends and luminariesquot in every panel discussion Each session offered a perspective on today through a lens of history and each coaxed the audience into smiling pondering and even weeping at timesThe first panel featured women39s history makers amp8212 Gloria Steinem sports legend Billie Jean King Variety editorinchief Claudia Eller and celebrity chef and ACLU ambassador Padma Lakshmi amp8212 answering questions from MeToo investigative journalist and session moderator Ronan Farrow One quotthen and nowquot moment was reflected in an aside from Steinem who said quotI was 39Miss39 Steinem even at Ms Magazine because back then you were defined by your title The good thing about being old is that you remember when things were worsequotEller shared a more recent anecdote that is one for the contemporary history books This past year she was famously stopped on the Cannes red carpet for wearing flats versus heels She also commented on the evolution of journalism saying she has never allowed business amp8212 or the influence of advertisers amp8212 to interfere with sharing the truth Then she commended Farrow39s intrepid reporting which contributed to the charges against Harvey Weinstein sparking rousing applause from the audienceKing pointed out that even after gaining worldwide awareness for women39s tennis it39s only recently that top female players such as Serena Williams earn prize purses equal to that of their male counterparts She used the dais to remind women to quotget the money because that gives you power and power helps change laws fasterquotFinally Lakshmi doubled down on the human rights message she shared during her recent appearance on The Daily Show amp8212 hosted by fellow HISTORY Talks panelist Trevor Noah quotIf the constitution says we are all equal under the law that means everyone goddamnitquotWhite House photographer Pete Souza39s stunning photos of the Reagans and the Obamas spoke a thousand words and led to tears of nostalgia from many in the audience But the next panel featuring former FCC chairman now president of the NCTA Michael Powell holds specific interest for MediaVillage readers Powell noted that aside from the clear challenge to make strides in privacy policies quotwe still have enormous technological leadership in the United States that we should be proud of But I worry that we only allow that to evolve based on profit and commercial incentive that we don39t have a slightly more globalist perspective of how we can be a great empire in the Information Age in the way we were in the Industrial Age while China is pursuing a 2025 technological strategy that is stunning in its ambitionquotModerator Walter Isaacson pointed out that America39s leadership after World War II was not just economic but also based on technology and creativity amp8212 and led to innovations such as the computer and networking quotSo what does a leader do now to spark innovationquot he asked Retired General Stanley McChrystal The answer To make greater national efforts to support science programs McChrystal explained quotThere was an era when many of the technological advances came from the government through defense and migrated to private industry Now there39s just not the same level of research and development fundingquotIn another conversation punctuated by quotthen and nowquot TaNehisi Coates a MacArthur Fellow and author of Marvel Comics39 The Black Panther and Captain America described an overabundance of funding for some projects and technologies Coates spent several minutes vulnerably sharing his embarrassment at times over the contrast between his modest upbringing and his financial success today And Matthew McConaughey explained his personal evolution as he walked away from more commercial and lucrative film projects to subjects that matter more amp8212 whether for the big or smaller screenThe panel focused on news amp8212 which included former Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel and The Daily Show39s Trevor Noah amp8212 was described in the program as quotIn these times of information overload latenight television hosts have joined nightly news anchors and newsroom editors as our purveyors of truth and justice in a complicated worldquot So I thought it best to ask my seatmate at the event Erich Prince the columnist behind MediaVillage39s News on the Record for his takeawaysquotAt a time of marked and seemingly allconsuming partisanship the news panel made an effort to understand the news media39s role in it all The panel was remarkably selfreflective and avoided casting blame on media39s viewers and readers for diminished trust in their industry Instead they discussed how media companies39 various business incentives might have had something to do with the record number of Americans dissatisfied by the news media Clicks and ratings after all are paramount and amp8212 at least in the short term amp8212 both are very responsive to the sensational And as is often the case in good faith debates or discussions the panelists found themselves agreeing with one another far more often than disagreeingquotBut as the panelists quickly observed it is not so much that Americans have blanket opposition to all news outlets rather they have their favorite sources and dislike others To this point the audience was amp8212 by a show of claps amp8212 asked who regularly listened to Rush Limbaugh and only a clap or two in the entire venue could be heard Conversely much of the room applauded when asked quotWho regularly listens to MSNBC or NPRquot Again like in politics regional and demographic differences in media consumption are much of the story And in many respects this intersected with a major theme of the day39s events the need to understand the perspectives of fellow Americans at a time when our sense of division is palpablequotAs was fitting of a HISTORY event the news panel took the time to evaluate how the news media has changed over the years Thus the intergenerational composition of the panel went a long way Even moderator Dan Abrams remarked how Ted Koppel was one of the inspirations for his own career in journalism As such Koppel indicated that the Internet was among the primary factors in changing how journalism is done Needless to say Trevor Noah39s entire platform is an obvious departure from the news media of decades pastquotDespite their obvious differences in age and medium of journalism however Koppel and Noah found themselves agreeing on far more than they disagreed on and they both invoked the international angle of how journalism is done around the world Koppel had notably reported on conditions in Noah39s home country of South Africa during ApartheidquotIn fact from the offtherecord sorry conversation between Presidents Clinton and Bush who are now famous friends with an almost shticklike camaraderie as foil for their serious insights to film actors and politicians to print journalists and latenight comedians amp8212 and across generations amp8212 the panelists frequently found themselves in agreement As Prince put it in our age of division the very presence of these historymakers and their civil thoughtful conversation was in many cases living proof of our need to form unity and common agreementPhoto at top LR Gloria Steinem Padma Lakshmi Ronan Farrow Claudia Eller Paul Buccieri and Billie Jean King Photo by Michael LoccisanoGetty Images for HISTORYDon39t stop now Stay in the know on AE Networks and HISTORY with more from AETNINSITEScomClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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HISTORY Plays Carnegie Hall: Clinton, Bush, and More Talk Then, Now, and Next

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HISTORY Plays Carnegie Hall: Clinton, Bush, and More Talk Then, Now, and Next

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