Cynthia McFadden
Cynthia McFadden
Television journalist
Cynthia McFadden is the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News.
Before joining NBC in 2014, she worked for 20 years at ABC News, where she was the co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline for nearly ten years, having previously served as the network’s legal correspondent and as a correspondent and co-anchor of Primetime. She has reported from around the world including from Rwanda, Bosnia, El Salvador, China, Israel, South Africa, Liberia, India and Sierra Leone. In addition to covering a vast array of legal issues, her work has often focused on human rights most particularly abuses faced by women and children.
Her work has received most of journalism’s highest honors. As part of ABC’s 9/11 reporting team, McFadden received a Dupont Award. For ABC’s Millennium coverage, she reported from Cuba and was part of the team that was awarded a 2000 Emmy, and in 2009 she was awarded an Emmy as part of the 2008 Inauguration coverage. McFadden’s work has also received a Peabody Award (Hurricane Sandy) and an Overseas Press Club Award (abuses in psychiatric hospitals in Mexico), as well as eight CINE Golden Eagle Awards and the Grand Award at the New York Festivals (death row hour) among many other honors. In 2014, she was presented with the prestigious Matrix Award.
McFadden moderated both the discussion after a Special Screening of Restrepo 2010 and a discussion on the The Primaries and the Presidential Election in 2008 at The Common Good.
Cynthia McFadden returned to participate in Recap: Final Presidential Debate Panel on October 23, 2020. Schoen, Bitecofer and McFadden help unpacked what happened during the final Presidential debate.
Twitter: @CynthiaMcFadden
Sebastian Junger
Sebastian Junger
American journalist, author, filmmaker
Sebastian Junger is an Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated director, war journalist, and best-selling author. He has written several books, including The Perfect Storm, A Death in Belmont, and Fire. Junger is acclaimed for his coverage of major international news stories across the world, including in Sierra Leone and Liberia. He has contributed as an editor to Vanity Fair and ABC News, and has received many awards for his endeavors, including the National Magazine Award and the SAIS Novartis Prize for Journalism. His debut as an author proved to be successful, as The Perfect Storm remained on The New York Times best-seller list for more than three years, set sales records, and was picked up by Warner Bros. for a major motion picture.
From 2007 to 2008, Junger, alongside photojournalist Tim Hetherington, joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Korengal. The outcome of their reporting was twofold: the book War, released in May 2010, and Restrepo, a 96-minute documentary. After the death of friend and photographer Tim Hetherington, Junger directed the film Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington. Most recently, following the book and documentary Restrepo, he created Korengal, a film that highlights the experiences of soldiers.
Junger was hosted by The Common Good in 2010: Special Screening of Restrepo 2010.
Twitter: @sebastianjunger
Bill Bradley
the honorable Bill bradley
Former U.S. Senator for New Jersey
Senator Bill Bradley served in the U.S. Senate from 1979 to 1997 representing the state of New Jersey. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. He holds a BA degree in American History from Princeton University and an MA degree from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has authored seven books on American politics, culture and economy. Prior to serving in the Senate, Senator Bradley was an Olympic gold medalist in 1964 and a professional basketball player with the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1977 during which time they won 2 NBA championships. In 1982 he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. (1)
Bradley spoke at a Meet & Greet hosted by The Common Good in 2010.
(1) Material from Bill Bradley’s website.
Rick Goldsmith
rick goldsmith
Screenwriter
Rick Goldsmith is a producer and writer, known for The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009), Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw (2015) and Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996). (1)
Goldsmith spoke alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Judith Ehrlich at a Screening and Discussion of 'The Most Dangerous Man in America' and the Panama Papers at The Common Good in 2010.
Twitter: @rgoldfilm1
(1) Material from IMDb.
Judith Ehrlich
Judith ehrlich
Film director
Judith Ehrlich is a producer and director, known for The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009), The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It (2000) and P.O.V. (1988). (1)
Ehrlich spoke alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Rick Goldsmith at a Screening and Discussion of 'The Most Dangerous Man in America' and the Panama Papers in 2010 at The Common Good.
Twitter: @Ehrlich1Judith
(1) Material from IMDb.
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Author, “leaker” of the Pentagon Papers
Daniel Ellsberg worked on the top secret McNamara study of U.S. Decision-making in Vietnam, 1945-1968, which later came to be known as the Pentagon Papers. In 1969, he photocopied the 7,000 page study and gave it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; in 1971 he gave it to The New York Times, The Washington Post and 17 other newspapers. His trial, on twelve felony counts posing a possible sentence of 115 years, was dismissed in 1973 on grounds of governmental misconduct against him, which led to the convictions of several White House aides and contributed to the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.
Ellsberg is the author of three books: Papers on the War (1971), Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (2002), and Risk, Ambiguity and Decision (2001). In December 2006 he was awarded the 2006 Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” in Stockholm, Sweden, “…for putting peace and truth first, at considerable personal risk, and dedicating his life to inspiring others to follow his example.”
Since the end of the Vietnam War, Ellsberg has been a lecturer, writer and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful U.S. interventions, and the urgent need for patriotic whistle-blowing. He is a Senior Fellow of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Ellsberg spoke alongside Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith at a Screening and Discussion of 'The Most Dangerous Man in America' and the Panama Papers at The Common Good in 2010.
Twitter: @DanielEllsberg
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Jim Miller
Jim Miller
Executive Director for the Brave New Foundation
Jim Miller is the Executive Director for Brave New Foundation. He joined the company when the Foundation was initially formed by putting together the coalition of over 100 groups (including Amnesty International, MoveOn True Majority, and Voters For Peace) to push their unique system of distributuion and house screenings for Iraq For Sale. Since then Jim has strengthened their distribution coalition so that their short videos now get 1.5 million views per month. His film experience began over 20 years ago working on the film Bull Durham and includes being the Director of Development for The Shooting Gallery, an independent film company which produced ‘Sling Blade’ and ‘You Can Count on Me’, and Head of Acquisitions for Cinema Park Distribution.
Stuart Sundlun
Stuart Sundlun
Managing Director of BMB Advisors
Stuart Sundlun is a Managing Director of BMB Advisors, a merchant banking group focusing on the Emerging Markets. In addition to private equity, BMB has created ShARE, which provides access for Islamic Sharia investors to leading alternative asset managers. Mr. Sundlun was one of the founders and serves as Board Member of The Dignity Fund which makes micro finance loans in developing countries. Active in business ventures in Russia since 1994, he currently serves on the board of South Oil. He was an unofficial advisor to his father, the Honorable Bruce Sundlun, during his five campaigns for Governor of Rhode Island.
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Charles "Joe" Hynes
Charles "Joe” Hynes
American lawyer, politician
Charles Hynes is an American lawyer and politician.
In 1975, Governor Hugh Carey and Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz appointed Hynes as special state prosecutor for Nursing Homes, Health and Social Services, in response to a massive scandal in the state’s nursing home industry. Hynes’ office launched a comprehensive attack on Medicaid fraud, and his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit eventually became a national model, cited in a report of the House Select Committee on Aging as the best in the country. Hynes was appointed the 24th New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor Edward I. Koch on November 5, 1980. He served as a Commissioner for the New York State Commission of Investigation between 1983 and 1985 by appointment of New York State Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink. In 1985, Governor Mario Cuomo appointed District Attorney Hynes Special State Prosecutor for the New York City Criminal Justice System. In October, 1990, Hynes initiated the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program (DTAP) on the premise that drug-addicted defendants would return to society in a better position to resist drugs and crime after treatment than if they had spent a comparable time in prison at nearly twice the cost. Hynes is also credited with establishing one of the most comprehensive-and first-countywide programs designed specifically to address domestic abuse as a criminal issue. In 2005, he opened the first Family Justice Center in New York State, an all-in-one facility where domestic violence victims can meet with prosecutors, counselors, civil attorneys and clergy members, and get help changing their locks, finding new housing, handling custody issues and a wide range of related problems, all in their native languages.
The Common Good hosted Hynes in March of 2009: Meet & Greet: Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.
Twitter: @HynesForDA
Arthur Eisenberg
Arthur Eisenberg
Legal Director of the NYCLU
Arthur Eisenberg is the Legal Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he has worked for more than 35 years. During that time he has been involved in more than 20 cases that were presented to the United States Supreme Court. He has litigated extensively around issues of free speech and voting rights and has been increasingly involved in litigation concerning national security and civil liberties. Eisenberg is the co-author, with Burt Neuborne, of the Rights of Candidates and Voters and has published numerous law review articles. Eisenberg contributed an essay on issues of faith and conscience in the book Engaging Cultural Differences, and an essay on military tribunals for the book It’s a Free Country.
The Common Good hosted Mr. Eisenberg in March of 2009: Lunch and Discussion with: Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.
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Patricia Gatling
Patricia Gatling
Commissioner and Chair of the New York City Commision on Human Rights
Patricia Gatling was the Commissioner and Chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights until 2015. Gatling is now counsel at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP.
As Commissioner, Gatling was in charge of enforcing the Human Rights Law and combating discrimination in New York City. She also worked as a senior trainer with John Jay College, teaching '“Human Dignity and the Law” in newly emerging democratic countries, such as Botswana and Thailand. Previously, Ms. Gatling served as First Assistant District Attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. She is an active participant in community outreach programs and a widely respected speaker.
For her unending public service, Ms. Gatling has received numerous awards throughout her career.
The Common Good hosted Gatling in 2009: Meet & Greet: Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.
Raymond Kelly
Raymond Kelly
Former NYPD Commissioner
Raymond Walter Kelly was the longest serving Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the first person to hold the post for two non-consecutive tenures.
Kelly has spent 47 years in the NYPD, serving in 25 different commands and as Police Commissioner from 1992 to 1994 and 2002–2013. He was promoted directly from Two-Star Chief to First Deputy Commissioner in 1990. After his handling of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, he was mentioned for the first time as a possible candidate for FBI Director. After Kelly turned down the position, Louis Freeh was appointed.
Kelly spoke at The Common Good in 2009: Lunch and Discussion with: NY Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
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Stephen Rex Brown, ‘Ex-NYPD top cop Ray Kelly vouches for former jail union boss Norman Seabrook before sentencing’, NY Daily News, 6 February 2019
Max Jaeger, ‘Ray Kelly shows support for active-shooter drills after Pittsburgh massacre’, NY Post, 28 October 2018
Julia Limitone, ‘North Korea, Russia, China and Iran not the only cyber threat: Fmr. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly’, Fox Business, 6 July 2017
Daniel Prendergast, ‘Ray Kelly: Attacks in Europe are the “new normal” now’, New York Post, 25 June 2017
Gwen Ifill ✝
Gwen Ifill ✝
American journalist, television newscaster, author
Gwen Ifill was a moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent for PBS NewsHour. She was also the best-selling author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.
Before arriving at PBS in 1999, Ifill was chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, White House correspondent for The New York Times, and a local and national political reporter for The Washington Post. She also reported for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Boston Herald American. Ifill reported on a wide range of issues from foreign affairs to U.S. politics and policies interviewing national and international news-makers. She covered six Presidential campaigns and moderated two vice presidential debates—in 2004 the debate between Republican Dick Cheney and Democrat John Edwards and in 2008 the debate between Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Republican Governor Sarah Palin. Her work as a journalist has been honored by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center, Ebony Magazine, and Boston’s Ford Hall Forum.
Ifill has received more than 20 honorary doctorates and served on the boards of the News Literacy Project, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and she is a fellow with the American Academy of Sciences.
Gwen Ifill passed away on November 14, 2016 at the age of 61.
Ifill spoke at The Common Good in 2009: The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.
Robert Kennedy Jr.
Robert Kennedy Jr.
American radio host, activist, attorney
Robert Kennedy, Jr., is an American radio host, activist, and attorney specializing in environmental law. He is the nephew of John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy. Kennedy co-hosts Ring of Fire, a nationally syndicated American radio program.
In 1998, Kennedy, Chris Bartle, and John Hoving created a bottled water company that donates all of its profits to Waterkeeper Alliance. They named their Manhattan-based company Tear of the Clouds LLC., after the lake of the same name. Their product is bottled under the name Keeper Springs.
Kennedy has written two books and several articles on environmental issues. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Nation, Outside magazine, and The Village Voice. Since May 2005, he’s been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.
The Common Good hosted Kennedy in 2008: Our Environmental Destinies.
Twitter: @RobertKennedyJr
Faye Wattleton
Faye Wattleton
Activist
Faye Wattleton is the first African-American and youngest President ever elected to Planned Parenthood (1978–1992). Currently, she is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal and Heads the board governance advisory practice in New York. Prior to that, she served as the President of the Center for the Advancement of Women, and also served on the board of trustees at Columbia University. She is best known for her contributions to family planning and reproductive health, as well as the pro-choice movement.
In 1986, the American Humanist Association named her Humanist of the Year. In 1990, Wattleton, along with 15 other African American women and men, formed the African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom. She was a 1993 inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
Wattleton was hosted by The Common Good in 2008: 2008 Democratic National Convention Panel.
Twitter: @FayeWattleton
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Representative Harold Ford Jr.
Representative Harold Ford Jr.
Former U.S. House Representative from Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District
Representative Harold Ford Jr. is an American politician and was the last chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). He was a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee’s 9th congressional district, centered in Memphis, from 1997 to 2007. Ford did not seek re-election to his House seat in 2006 when he unsuccessfully sought the Senate seat vacated by retiring Bill Frist.
Between 2011 and 2017, Ford worked for Morgan Stanley as a managing director. He also regularly appeared on television on political-related programs, such as NBC's Meet the Press, MSNBC, CNN, and CNBC. He wrote the book, More Davids Than Goliaths: A Political Education, published in 2010.
Ford spoke at The Common Good as part of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Panel.
Twitter: @HFord2
Richard Wolffe
Richard Wolffe
Journalist, political analyst
Richard Wolffe is an award-winning journalist and political analyst. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine, traveling with the candidate and his inner circle from his announcement through election day, Wolffe is currently a columnist at The Guardian.
Wolffe began writing about American politics as a senior journalist at the Financial Times, serving as its deputy bureau chief and U.S. diplomatic correspondent in Washington D.C. In that capacity, he managed coverage of business and political affairs in the nation’s capital, and reported on U.S. foreign policy at the State Department and National Security Council. He first started reporting on George W. Bush and his Texas team in 1999, at the start of the presidential campaign. He traveled with then-Governor Bush for more than a year. Wolffe spent eight years with the Financial Times including four years in the United Kingdom. He joined Newsweek magazine in November 2002 as diplomatic correspondent, covering foreign policy and international affairs. In the 2004 presidential election, he covered the chaotic Howard Dean campaign before switching to John Kerry’s campaign.
His book about the Obama campaign, entitled Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June 2009 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. On NBC, he has been featured as a political commentator on Meet The Press and TODAY.
Wolffe spoke at The Common Good as part of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Panel.
Twitter: @richardwolffedc
Governor Mark Warner
Mark Warner
American politician
Mark Robert Warner is an American politician and businessman, currently serving as the junior United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Warner was the 69th governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and is the honorary chairman of the Forward Together PAC. Warner delivered the keynote address before the nation at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Mark Warner’s experience as a congressional staffer and Democratic Party fundraiser in the 1980s prompted his involvement in telecommunications venture capital; he founded the firm Columbia Capital.
In 2006 he was widely expected to pursue the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections; however, he announced in October 2006 that he would not run, citing a desire not to disrupt his family life. Warner was considered to be a potential vice presidential candidate, but upon receiving the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, he announced that he “will not accept any other opportunity.”
Warner was hosted by The Common Good in 2008: Meet & Greet: Governor Mark Warner.
Twitter: @MarkWarner
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Paul Glastris
Paul Glastris
Editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly
Paul Glastris is the editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly and a senior fellow at the Western Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
From September 1998 to January, 2001, he was a special assistant and senior speechwriter to President Bill Clinton. He co-wrote the President’s address to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles in August, 2000, and contributed to his 1999 and 2000 State of the Union addresses. Glastris created the President’s “DC Reads this Summer” program, which has put over 1000 federal employees as volunteer reading tutors in Washington, D.C. public schools.
Before joining the White House, Glastris spent ten years as a correspondent and editor at U.S. News & World Report. There, he conceived of and edited two end-of-the-year issues consisting of “solution-oriented” journalism in 1997 and 1998. As Bureau Chief in Berlin, Germany (1995/1996), he covered former Yugoslavia during the final months of the Bosnian War. Prior to that, he covered the Midwest from the magazine’s Chicago bureau during two presidential campaigns, the Mississippi floods of 1993, and the rise of the Michigan Militia. He produced profiles of Midwest mayors, governors and other personalities, from Jesse Jackson to then-Presidential candidate Bill Clinton.
Glastris moderated a talk on The Role of Religion in the 2008 Campaign at The Common Good with Jon Meacham, Amy Sullivan, and Steven Waldman, introduced by Richard Feigen.
Twitter: @glastris
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington
Author, businesswoman
Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, a nationally syndicated columnist, and the author of thirteen books. She is also co-host of Left, Right & Center, public radio’s popular political roundtable program, as well as Both Sides Now, a weekly syndicated radio show with Mary Matalin, moderated by Mark Green.
In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2006, she was named to the Time’s 100, Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. She serves on several boards that promote community solutions to social problems, including A Place Called Home, which works with at-risk children in South Central Los Angeles. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Archer School for Girls.
In 2011 AOL announced it would acquire The Huffington Post for $315 million. As part of the deal, Arianna Huffington became president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group.
The Common Good hosted Huffington in July of 2007: The Impact of the Internet.
Twitter: @ariannahuff
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