Jill Iscol
Jill Iscol
Educator, activist
Educator and activist, Jill Iscol, Ed.D, is President of the IF Hummingbird Foundation, a family foundation established in 1989 to support domestic and international efforts to strengthen democracy and reduce the social, economic, and educational inequalities that threaten it.
Jill has been actively involved in the Democratic Party and served as Chairperson of the Annual Family Re-Union Conference, moderated by then-Vice President Gore and Mrs. Gore. She also served as Co-Chair for Hillary Rodham Clinton for Senate’s New York Finance Committee and as National Vice-Chair of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 Finance Committee.
Most recently, Jill serves as a Trustee of Horizons National, the Advisory Board of the Center for New American Security in Washington. She’s also a member of the New York State Commission on National and Community Service and in 2011 was appointed to the US-Afghan Women’s Council.
Iscol published her first book, Hearts on Fire: Stories of Today's Visionaries Igniting Idealism Into Action, in 2012.
The Common Good hosted Iscol to discuss her book in 2012: Author Jill Iscol on her book “Hearts on Fire”.
Twitter: @jilliscol
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir
Expert on Middle East politics and affairs
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is an expert on Middle East politics and affairs, specializing in peace negotiations between Israel and Arab states. For the past seventeen years, Dr. Ben-Meir has been directly involved in various negotiations between Israel and its neighboring countries and has operated as a liaison between top Arab and Israeli officials. Dr. Ben-Meir serves as senior fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs where he has taught courses on the Middle East and international negotiations. Dr. Ben-Meir hosts “Global Leaders: Conversations with Alon Ben-Meir,” a speaking series of debates and conversations with top policy-makers from around the world held each semester at NYU. He also regularly briefs at the US State Department for the International Visitors Program.
Dr. Ben-Meir writes weekly articles, including a syndicated column in the Jerusalem Post. His articles have appeared in scores of newspapers, magazines and websites including the Middle East Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Le Monde, American Chronicle, the Political Quarterly, Israel Policy Forum, Gulf Times, the Harvard Review, and the World Policy Journal. He makes regular television and radio appearances, and has been featured on networks such as ABC, Al Jazeera (English and Arabic), Al Arabiya, CNN, FOX, NPR, PBS and Russia Today.
He has authored seven books related to Middle East policy and is currently working on a new book about the psychological dimensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dr. Ben-Meir holds a masters degree in philosophy and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.
Mr. Ben-Meir was hosted by The Common Good in 2012: Ambassador Riyad Mansour with Dr. Alon Ben Meir- January 30, 2012.
Twitter: @AlonBenMeir
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski ✝
Co-chair of the CSIS Advisory Board, former Chairman of the American-Ukrainian Advisory Committee
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski was a CSIS counselor as well as trustee and co-chair of the CSIS Advisory Board. He was also a senior research professor of international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D.C. and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council. He is a former chairman of the American-Ukrainian Advisory Committee. He was a member of the Policy Planning Council of the Department of State from 1966 to 1968; director of the Trilateral Commission from 1973 to 1976; and principal foreign policy adviser to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 presidential campaign. From 1977 to 1981, Dr. Brzezinski was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter. In 1981, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in the normalization of U.S.-China relations and for his contributions to the human rights and national security policies of the United States. He was also a member of the President’s Chemical Warfare Commission (1985), the National Security Council–Defense Department Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy (1987–1988), and the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (1987–1989). In 1988, he was co-chairman of the Bush National Security Advisory Task Force, and in 2004, he was co-chairman of a Council on Foreign Relations task force that issued the report “Iran: Time for a New Approach”.
His many books include Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power (Basic Books, 2012); America and the World: Conversations on the Future of American Foreign Policy (Basic Books, 2008), coauthored with Brent Scowcroft and David Ignatius; Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower (Basic Books, 2007); and The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership (Basic Books, 2004)
On May 26, 2017, Dr. Brzezinski passed away in Falls Church, Virginia at the age of 89.
Dr. Brzezinski was hosted by The Common Good in 2012: Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski on “Strategic Vision” and reasserting America’s Strength - January 24, 2012.
David Avital
David Avital
CEO and Founder of MTP Investment Group
David Avital is the CEO and Founder of the New York-headquartered MTP Investment Group and has experience with areas of investment ranging from real estate to technology.
As a businessman turned philanthropist, David is actively engaged in a variety of nonprofit organizations, think tanks, and policy initiatives primarily centered on issues of conflict resolution and the promotion of peaceful coexistence of communities in conflict. One such example is his seat on the board of directors of Seeds of Peace.
Avital works with many organizations, including Save a Child’s Heart, The Common Good, One Voice Movement, American Friends of the Open University, American Friends of Tel Aviv University, Israel Policy Forum/Center for American Progress, J Street, and the Institute for National Security Studies.
Avital was hosted by The Common Good to discuss the The Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in 2011.
Honorary Advisory Board Member: Nouriel Roubini
Nouriel Roubini is a leading global economist, a professor of Economics and International Business at New York University Stern School of Business, and the founder of multiple highly regarded economic consultancy and research firms. At a 2006 address to the International Monetary Fund, Roubini warned of the impending recession due to the credit and housing market bubble. His predictions became a reality in 2008, with the bubble bursting and reverberating around the world into a global financial crisis.
He was assigned the nickname ‘Doctor Doom’ by the media for his persistently pessimistic economic outlooks in advance of the crisis. Given the accuracy of his forecasts, he has garnered widespread respect. In 2009, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. He has been repeatedly listed as one of the 100 Top Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy.
Roubini is the co-founder and chairman of Continuum Economics, formerly Roubini Global Economics, an independent, global macroeconomic and market strategy research firm. The firm's website, ContinuumEconomics.com, has been named one of the best economics web resources by Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. He is also CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, LLC, a global macroeconomic consultancy firm in New York, and Co-Founder of Rosa & Roubini Associates based out of London.
From 1998 to 2000, Roubini served as the senior economist for international affairs on the White House Council of Economic Advisors and then the senior advisor to the undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department, helping to resolve the Asian and global financial crises, among other issues.
Roubini has published over 70 theoretical, empirical and policy papers on international macroeconomic issues and co-authored the books Political Cycles: Theory and Evidence, Bailouts or Bail-ins? Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Markets and Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance. His views on global economic issues are widely cited by the media, and he is a frequent commentator on various business news programs. He has been the subject of extended profiles in The New York Times Magazine and continued coverage in The Financial Times, among other leading current-affairs publications.
Roubini received his undergraduate degree from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1988. Prior to joining Stern, he was on the faculty of Yale University's department of economics.
Roubini was hosted by The Common Good in Nouriel Roubini on the US & Global Economy - October 12, 2011. And in 2019 for Nouriel Roubini: Global EconomicOutlook: Upside and Downside Risks. He currently serves on The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board.
Twitter: @Nouriel
Books:
2010: Crisis Economics, A Crash Course in the Future of Finance
2004: Bailouts or Bail-ins? Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Markets
Selected Media:
'Dr. Doom' economist Nouriel Roubini blasts get-rich-quick schemes - and says it's obvious that current market mania 'will end in tears' Business Insider, 2021
Bitcoin is not a Hedge Against Tail Risk Roubini Opinion for Financial Times, 2021
The COVID Bubble Roubini for Project Syndicate, 2021
Nouriel Roubini: The Mother and Father of All Bubbles CFA Institute 2019
How Nouriel Roubini Became a Research Brand Institutional Investor, 2011
Bitcoin Bloodbath: Nouriel Roubini Slams Institutional Investors Of 'FOMO', Deepak Shenoy Compares M-cap Downsize With RBI Money Control, 2021
Roubini: These 3 Things Will Spur Global Recession Money and Markets, 2019
Nouriel Roubini discusses bitcoin risk, stimulus concerns, and the rise in SPACs Yahoo Finance, 2021
Roubini Says Markets Don't Reflect the Economic Risks, interview with Bloomberg, 2020
Mort Zuckerman
Mort Zuckerman
U.S. News and World Report, New York Daily News, and Boston Properties Inc.
Mortimer B. Zuckerman is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report and is the Chairman and Publisher of the New York Daily News. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Boston Properties Inc. and a regular commentator on The McLaughlin Group.
He is a trustee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a member of the Bank of America Global Wealth & Investment Management Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Washington Institute for Near East Studies, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Vice Chair and Treasurer of the International Peace Institute. He is a sponsor of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a former Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, a former lecturer of City and Regional Planning at Yale University, a past president of the Board of Trustees of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, a member of the Trilateral Commission and the former Chairman of the Principal’s International Advisory Board of McGill University. He is a former trustee of New York University and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. He is a former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and served as President of the America-Israel Friendship League.
Mr. Zuckerman is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal where he received an undergraduate degree in 1957 with first class honors, a degree in law in 1961 and an honorary LLD in 2011. He received an MBA with distinction from the Wharton Graduate School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1961 and an LLM from Harvard University in 1962.
He has received honorary degrees from Colby College, Southampton College, Hebrew College, Berkeley College, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an honorary Doctorate of Laws from McGill University and Columbia University. Mr. Zuckerman was awarded the Commandeur De L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Guild Hall, the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architecture in New York, the Sy Syms Humanitarian award from Yeshiva University and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Canadian government.
Zuckerman was hosted by The Common Good in August of 2011: Special Screening of “Too Big To Fail”.
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Ambassador Alon Pinkas
Ambassador Alon Pinkas
Israeli politician
From 2000 to 2004, Ambassador Alon Pinkas was Consul General of Israel supplying services to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. In addition, he served as Chief of Staff to both Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami in 2000 and Foreign Minister David Levy from 1999 to 2000. Ambassador Pinkas was also the Foreign Policy Advisor to Ehud Barak in 1996 to 1999, when Barak was Chairman of the Labor party and the Opposition, and in 1995 to 1996 when Barak was a member of the delegation to the Middle East Economic Conference in Paris, France. He was Foreign Policy Advisor to then Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres from 1991 to 1992. In addition to his government service, Mr. Pinkas is an experienced journalist. He was the Chief Military and Defense correspondent for the Jerusalem Post and Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Ma’ariv, a Hebrew language daily newspaper. He is a frequent commentator on US affairs in Israeli media and is a FOX News contributor on the Middle East and International Affairs.
Pinkas was hosted by The Common Good in 2011: Breakfast Briefing with Ambassador Alon Pinkas.
Twitter: @AlonPinkas
Barnett Zitron
Barnett Zitron
Founder, TENFOUR.NYC
Barnett Zitron is the founder of TENFOUR.NYC, a media, entertainment, fashion, and consumer product advisory. He was Vice President and Managing Director of MADE, which was an alternative fashion week that provided fashion shows free of charge and is now a festival platform. Zitron also founded wecando, a company that provided revolutionary ad technology, and was Project Director for VICE Media.
Zitron spoke in Social Media, Politics and Change on July 26th, 2011 at The Common Good.
Kevin Macdonald
Kevin Macdonald
Director, producer
Kevin Macdonald is a director and producer, known for Whitney (2018), The Last King of Scotland (2006), State of Play (2009) and Touching the Void (2003).
Kevin Macdonald's first feature, One Day In September, won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2000. His awards include a BAFTA for Best British Film, the Evening Standard Award for Best British Film, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is the highest grossing British documentary in U.K. box office history. Kevin's first feature-length drama, The Last King of Scotland, starring Forest Whitaker, premiered at Telluride and was released in the UK and the US in 2006. Other feature drama credits include State of Play, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, and The Eagle, adapted from Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Eagle of the Ninth and starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell. His most recent feature is Marley, the acclaimed documentary about Bob Marley's life and work was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2013 BAFTA’s as well as receiving a GRAMMY and a BIFA nomination. In 2013, his film How I Live Now starring Saoirse Ronan and Tom Holland was released. In 2018, he examined the life and career of singer Whitney Houston in his film Whitney.
The Common Good hosted Macdonald in 2011: New York Premiere of “Life in a Day”.
Twitter: @Kevinmfilms
Representative Shelley Berkley
The honorable Shelley Berkley
Former Representative for Nevada’s First Congressional District
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley formerly represented Nevada’s First Congressional District from 1999 to 2012 as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. A candidate for Senate in 2012, she had a proven track record of helping the middle class on issues that matter the most: creating jobs, keeping families from losing their homes, and increasing access to education and health care.
After completing junior high and high school in Las Vegas, Congresswoman Berkley became the first member of her family to attend college when she enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV). Elected student body president her senior year, Congresswoman Berkley graduated with honors in 1972, earning a B.A. in Political Science. After earning her law degree in 1976 from the University of San Diego School of Law, Shelley returned to Las Vegas and began her professional career. She is a former member of the Nevada State Legislature and served as a Regent for the State’s University and Community College.
Representative Berkley attended a Meet & Greet at The Common Good on June 27th, 2011.
Twitter: @RepBerkley
Dr. Emily Landau
Dr. Emily Landau
Israeli Expert
Dr. Emily Landau has published and lectured extensively on the Middle East. Some topics that she has covered include Arab perceptions of Israel’s qualitative edge, Israeli-Egyptian relations, and proliferation challenges in the post-Cold War world. Her current research focuses on regional dynamics and processes in the Middle East and developments in arms control thinking on nuclear proliferation, including implications of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
She is co-author of Israel’s Nuclear Image: Arab Perceptions of Israel’s Nuclear Posture, author of Egypt and Israel in ACRS: Bilateral Concerns in a Regional Arms Control Process, and co-editor of Building Regional Security in the Middle East: International, Regional and Domestic Influences. Her most recent book is Arms Control in the Middle East: Cooperative Security Dialogue and Regional Constraints.
Dr. Landau teaches arms control in the Security Studies program at Tel Aviv University and in the International School at the University of Haifa. She is a member of the Steering Committee of EuroMeSCo, the Euro-Mediterranean consortium of research institutes, and of the newly convened Expert Advisory Group for Euro-Mediterranean affairs.
Dr. Landau spoke at The Common Good on Middle East Regional Security, June 21st, 2011.
Twitter: @EmilyBLandau
Ken Burns
Ken Burns
Filmmaker
Ken Burns has been making films for more than thirty years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Burns has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. A December 2002 poll conducted by Real Screen Magazine listed Ken Burn’s The Civil War as second only to Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North as the “most influential documentary of all time,” and named Ken Burns and Robert Flaherty as the “most influential documentary makers” of all time. Burns’ films have won twelve Emmy Awards and two Oscar nominations, and in September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Burns was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He is one of the co-founders of Florentine Films.
Mr. Burns was hosted by The Common Good in June of 2011: A Conversation With Ken Burns.
Twitter: @KenBurns
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Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
American filmmaker, photographer, actor
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who started his feature film directing career with Being John Malkovich (1999) and Adaptation (2002), both written by Charlie Kaufman, and then started movies with screenplays of his own with Where the Wild Things Are (2009) and Her (2013).
Jonze is also known for his music video collaborations with Fatboy Slim, Weezer, Beastie Boys, and Björk. He was a co-creator and executive producer of MTV’s Jackass and is currently the creative director of Vice Media, Inc. Jonze is a partial owner of skateboard company Girl Skateboards with riders Rick Howard and Mike Carroll. He co-founded Directors Label, with filmmakers Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, and the Palm Pictures company.
Jonze has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Director for Being John Malkovich, and Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Song (“The Moon Song”) for Her. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the 2014 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Her.
Jonze was hosted by The Common Good in 2011: The Wall Street Journal: Fashionable Crowd for 'Style Wars'.
Catherine Keener
Catherine Keener
American actress
Catherine Keener is an Academy Award and Oscar nominated actress for best supporting actress. Starring in Being John Malkovich, Capote, Into the Wild, and The 40 Year-Old Virgin. She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress for Walking and Talking, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Where the Wild Things Are. Catherine also she was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Harper Lee in Capote.
She’s worked on studio films such as Captain Phillips, Out of Sight, and Bad Grandpa. But she found her place in independent cinema which is full of quirky little movies and felt extremely welcomed in that industry.
She discusses her hardships when it came to making a name for herself as she had to deal with backlash due to being a women. Being turned down from roles because “she wasn’t sexy enough.” Although she spoke out and persevered. She expresses her love for the #MeToo movement as it allows for women to speak out about unacceptable behavior and continues to support it.
Keener was hosted twice by The Common Good in 2011, at the event Style Wars and The American Spirit Awards 2011.
Twitter: @KeenerSavannah
Ross Bleckner
Ross Bleckner
Artist
Ross Bleckner is an artist currently living and working in New York City. He received a Bachelor of Arts from New York University in 1971, a Master of Fine Arts from Cal Arts in 1973.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum held a major retrospective of his works in 1995, summarizing two decades of solo shows at internationally acclaimed exhibition venues such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. Works by Bleckner are also held in esteemed public collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Not only has Bleckner had a profound impact on the shaping of the New York art world, his philanthropic efforts have enabled many community organizations to perform their vital work. For ten years. Bleckner served as president of the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), a non-profit community-based research and treatment education center. More recently, he has been working with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Northern Uganda to help rehabilitate and raise money for ex-child soldiers. In May 2009, Bleckner was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations.
Mr. Bleckner was hosted by The Common Good in 2011: The Quest for "It": Desert Flower Premieres – Sunday, March 20, 2011.
Read more:
‘Ross Bleckner: Pharmaceutria at Petzel Gallery’, ‘ArtFuse’, 15 May 2019
Ted Loos, ‘Ross Bleckner on His Comback and Mary Boone’ New York Times, 25 April 2019
‘Ross Bleckner at Dallas Contemporary’, Broadway World, 12 January 2017
Ken Johnson, ‘Searching for Light in the Darkness of the ‘80s’, New York Times, 18 August 2016
Liya Kebede
Liya Kebede
Model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer, actress
Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Liya Kebede works as an international fashion model. She has appeared on the covers of Italian, Japanese, Korean & Spanish Vogue, Numero, V, French, Flair, i-D, South African Elle, Harper’s & Queen, Essence, and Time’s “Style & Design” issue. Kebede was also featured on the September 2004 cover of American Vogue, where she was named one of the leading faces of “the Return of the Super Model”. Kebede appeared for a second time on the May 2005 cover of American Vogue, with the heading “Cover model with a cause,” profiling her work with the World Health Organization as their Goodwill Ambassador for her tireless efforts in raising awareness for the difficulties that women and children face in the developing world.
In 2005, Kebede was appointed WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. She then founded the Liya Kebede Foundation, whose mission is to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality in Ethiopia and around the world. In 2009, she worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of their Living Proof Project. Kebede served as a High-Level adviser for the Center for Global Development’s 2009 report “Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health.” Kebede writes for The Huffington Post about maternal and child health and has been featured in Vogue and on The Daily Beast. She is also part of the Champions for an HIV Free Generation, an organization of African leaders led by former Botswana President Festus Mogae.
The Common Good hosted Kebede in 2011 for a discussion about her role in the film Desert Flower.
Twitter: @liyakebede
Ruth Gruber †
Ruth Gruber †
Journalist, photographer, humanitarian
Ruth Gruber became the youngest Ph.D. in the world before going on to become an international foreign correspondent and photojournalist at age 24. By 1936, Ruth was in the Soviet Union reporting for The New York Herald Tribune; by 1941, she was filing reports from Alaska for Harold L. Ickes, Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Interior, describing its suitability for homesteading soldiers. During World War II and its aftermath, she secretly escorted Holocaust refugees to America in 1944 and documented the attack on the refugee boat Exodus by the British in 1947.
Continuing her journalistic travel, she worked as a foreign correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, writing about each new wave of immigrants into Israel, including the Iraqis, Yemenites, Romanians, Russians and Ethiopians. She also wrote a popular column for Hadassah Magazine, called “Diary of an American Housewife.” Ruth Gruber has received many awards for her writing and humanitarian acts, including the Na’amat Golda Meir Human Rights Award and awards from the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance. She has written 18 books, and most recently was the subject of the documentary Ahead of Time.
She passed away at the age of 105 on November 17th, 2016.
The Common Good honored Ruth Gruber with the American Spirit Award for Citizen Activism at the The American Spirit Awards 2011.
Ann Curry
Ann Curry
American television personality, news journalist, photojournalist
Ann Curry is an American television personality, news journalist, and photojournalist. In June 2012, she became the Today show’s anchor-at-large and NBC News’ national/international correspondent. She was previously co-host of Today from June 9, 2011 to June 28, 2012, and the program’s news anchor from March 1997 until becoming co-host. She was also the anchor of Dateline NBC from 2005 to 2011.
In 1990, Curry joined NBC News, first as the NBC News Chicago correspondent then as the anchor of NBC News at Sunrise from 1991 to 1996. Curry also served as a substitute news anchor for Matt Lauer from 1994 to 1997 at Today. From 1997 to 2011, she served as news anchor at Today. In May 2005, Curry was named co-anchor of Dateline NBC with Stone Phillips; she remained as the primary anchor when Phillips left in June 2007 until she replaced Meredith Vieira on Today in 2011. Curry replaced Meredith Vieira as co-host of Today on June 9, 2011.
On June 28, 2012, Curry announced that she was leaving the Today show. Her title has been changed to Today show anchor-at-large and NBC News national/international correspondent. Her responsibilities include leading a seven-person unit producing content for NBC Nightly News, Dateline NBC, Rock Center with Brian Williams and Today, with occasional anchor duties for Nightly News. In January 2018, Curry came back to television with a 6-part PBS series called “We’ll meet again”.
The Common Good hosted Curry in February of 2011: The American Spirit Awards 2011, Elle: How to Be Awesome at 100, and Manhattan Society: The Common Good's Tribute to Ruth Gruber.
Twitter: @AnnCurry
Catherine Crier
Catherine Crier
Journalist, Texas State judge
Catherine Crier is an award winning journalist and the youngest Texas State Judge to ever be elected. She joined Court TV’s distinguished team of anchors in November 1999. Crier served as Executive Editor, Legal News Specials, in addition to hosting Catherine Crier Live.
Crier began her television career at CNN. She was co-anchor of both Inside Politics and The World Today. Additionally, she hosted Crier & Company. Crier has hosted episodes of Court TV’s signature primetime series The System and numerous other specials such as The Skakel Jury Speaks with Dominick Dunne and Catherine Crier, Osama bin Laden on Trial and Safe Passage: Voices from the Middle School. Prior to joining Court TV, Crier anchored The Crier Report for Fox News Channel. Crier joined FNC after spending three and a half years at ABC News, where she served as a correspondent and as a regular substitute anchor for Peter Jennings on ABC’s World News Tonight, as well as a substitute host for Ted Koppel’s Nightline. Crier was awarded a 1996 Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for her work on the segment The Predators, which examined nursing home abuses throughout the United States.
Prior to her accomplished career in television journalism, Crier presided over the 162nd District Court in Dallas County, TX, as a State District Judge. In 1984, she became the youngest elected state judge in Texas history. From 1982 to 1984, Crier was a civil litigation attorney in Dallas. From 1978 to 1981, she was an Assistant District Attorney and Felony Chief Prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorney’s office.
Crier released her first book, The New York Times bestseller The Case Against Lawyers, in October, 2002. In this eye-opening and plain-spoken treatise on the law, Crier shares her outrage at the state of the justice system and calls on American citizens to demand reform. Her second book, A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson Investigation was released in March, 2005 and became a #1 New York Times bestseller. Catherine Crier is now a managing partner in Cajole Entertainment developing television, film and documentary projects.
The Common Good hosted Crier in November 2011: Catherine Crier on “Occupy Wall Street”, and she co-hosted The American Spirit Awards 2011.
Twitter: @CatherineCrier
Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams
American web entrepreneur, television host
Dan Abrams is the Founder of the Abrams Media Network. He was the General Manager of MSNBC from 2006 to 2007, and during his tenure ratings grew by 62%, branding the network “The Place for Politics”. In the four years prior to his management appointment, Dan hosted The Abrams Report, a nightly legal affairs program, and later Verdict with Dan Abrams.
The Abrams Media Network has become one of the nation’s most successful and widely read digital media conglomerates. It includes: Mediaite.com, fashion and style site Styleite.com, Geekosystem.com and Sportsgrid.com. Dan is also the co-founder of Gossipcop.com, the first major website to police the gossip industry for inaccuracies in reporting.
He is the author of Man Down: Proof That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else. His latest book, Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battle to Save His Legacy, was released in May, 2019.
Abrams was hosted by The Common Good in 2010: Election Insurrection: The Mid-Term Elections 2010.
Twitter: @danabrams