It’s Friday! Here’s your moment of zen. Video courtesy of our friend Ken Lee at solargun.com…

Speaking of Ken, his wife Susan Pak worked on a documentary, A Walk to Beautiful, which opens at the Quad Cinemas in Manhattan next Friday, February 8. Here’s the synopsis:

The award-winning, feature-length documentary A Walk to Beautiful tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. They make the choice to take the long and arduous journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in search of a cure and a new life.

The documentary has already won awards at film festivals in Barcelona, Denver, San Francisco, and St. Louis. Please check it out. Here’s a link to their site.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Katherine Newman and I spoke at the Cambridge Forum in December about the book. Here is a link to the video, which appeared on C-SPAN, and here is a link to the audio, which was broadcast on WGBH.

Here are links to some book reviews:

Boston Globe  

All About Cities

OC Weekly

Sojourners

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Lost premiered its fourth season last night. Wow. I’ve given up trying to theorize about where this show is headed. It’s a fun ride, though, and they throw in all these seemingly random references to literature and mythology and political theory and physics that you think you must be learning something. (Yes, John Locke was a 17th-century English philosopher, Our Mutual Friend was Dickens’ last novel, B.F. Skinner was a 20th-century American psychologist … and, yes, treastises on free will and critiques of materialism and theories of operant conditioning … but did you notice what beautiful skin these people have?). I just hope that the writers know what they’re doing, and that all these disjointed plot points are leading us toward some fitting conclusion, and not down the rabbit hole of bizarre screenwriter logic, a la The Matrix or Twin Peaks.

I’m glad to see that Lance Reddick from The Wire showed up in last night’s episode, and that Ken Leung (who was terrific in The Sopranos‘ last season) will also be playing a recurring character this season. Just fly in James Gandolfini and the show will be perfect.

One thing I like about Lost is that it tries to be global and multicultural in its outlook — much more than other Hollywood fare, at least — and yet it doesn’t have everyone around a campfire singing "Kumbaya." There were cultural conflicts aplenty among the survivors in the early episodes, but the interesting thing is how those differences became somewhat muted once armed conflict with another group on the Island — "The Others" — took precedence. In the last season we started to understand what makes The Others tick, and suddenly they’re not (well, with one exception) the monsters they once were, but another group trying to survive, feeling threatened, and setting up in their minds that instinctual divide between us and them that is the root of all misunderstanding and conflict.

It’s a state of nature, in other words, with a social contract being cobbled together, and guys named Rousseau and Locke and Bakunin and Hume duking it out … yeah, I hope these writers know what they’re doing.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Edwards is out.

I think he waged an important and worthy campaign. The former senator played a defining role in the Democratic Party over the past year, by setting the agenda that others followed on issues like health care and the Iraq War, and by shining much-needed light on the fact that one in eight people live in poverty in the world’s richest country. (Full disclosure: Edwards wrote the foreword to my book, so I’m biased. But I voted for the guy in the 2004 primary, too, so I’ve been biased for a long time.)

Speaking of bias, this article talks about how Edwards’ decision to end his presidential campaign may have been influenced by the "antsiness" of "several major contributors," who wanted to line up behind Clinton or Obama. There’s nothing wrong about listening to your supporters, of course. But it made me wonder how much say these "major contributors" have over presidential (or any) candidates, even those brave souls trying to reform the system. How much do they call the shots regarding whether you run, how you run, whether you stop running — and, for that matter, what you do when you get in office? Perhaps what we really need to focus on is another signature theme of the Edwards campaign: reining in the influence of money in politics.

For more on that, you might want to check out this book Free Lunch, which has interesting things to say about the ways that monied interests are corrupting our political system, and generally screwing over everyone.

Update: I also need to mention that I was a contributor to Edwards’ campaign, but not a "major contributor" — more like a "random guy on the Internet" contributor. Now excuse me while I line up behind Obama.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

I’m jealous of all those people with HBO who can watch the final season of The Wire. According to many critics, it’s one of the best TV shows of all time. At its most basic, The Wire is about drug gangs in Baltimore and the cops who chase (or fail to chase) them, but really the show is much broader in its ambitions, managing the remarkable feat of both empathizing deeply with the struggles of each and very character and understanding deeply the institutions that shape and limit those individuals.

Recently I watched the fourth season on DVD. The storyline centered around four boys who clearly could accomplish great things if they were growing up in a more nurturing environment. You look at Randy’s entrepreneurial skills, Duquan and Namond’s intelligence, and Michael’s heart, and then you wonder what might have been if those talents had not been beaten down by the streets or (in Michael’s case) diverted to criminality. This is a running theme in the entire show: The indisputable organizational and entrepreneurial genius that the drug kingpins (above all, Stringer Bell) show could have brought about so much good in society, but instead leads to more sickness and squandering of talent. 

This is what The Wire shows us: the incredible waste — economic, social, and moral — that results from this tangled knot of poverty and criminality, and our collective failure to do anything about it.

Do yourself a favor and catch The Wire on HBO or on DVD. Did I mention it’s hilarious, too? It’s like Greek tragedy with jokes.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Here’s a link to an interesting interview on Foreign Exchange about peacemaking in Uganda. For more than a decade Betty Bigombe has been trying to broker a peace agreement between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, an insurgent group that has allegedly perpetrated a wide range of human rights abuses in its pursuit of power, including the forced recruitment of child soldiers and child sex slaves. LRA leader Joseph Kony, who believes he speaks directly to God and who has fathered more than 200 children during the war, is seeking to establish a theocratic regime in Uganda, one that literally enforces the Ten Commandments of the Christian Bible. (Here is another reminder that every great religion can be perverted into a compassionless creed of conquest and atrocity.)

Bigombe describes the tedious and morally uneasy process of peacemaking, especially when it involves a leader, such as Kony, with so much blood and suffering on his hands. While Bigombe saw him as a "monster" for his atrocities, she sought to understand what made him do what he did. She also began to appreciate how self-interest — at times more than ideology — drives peace negotiations, in that all rebel leaders want to protect themselves from punishment or vengeance once they put down their weapons.

Here’s what Bigombe has to say about the challenges of peacemaking: 

It takes a lot of patience. But it takes a lot of listening. Even the devil wants to be listened to. Because they totally believe they have reasons to fight. It also takes personal risks. My approach [is] … don’t put time limits to these issues and these problems …. Because when you are trying to get people who have been killing one another, to start looking at one another differently, and in some cases even coexist, it takes time. Because what is going on in their mind is "We’ve been enemies for so many years, can I start trusting so-and-so?" It’s also my perception, my conviction, because I’ve been at this for quite some time, that over a period of time, when people are given a chance, they can change, they can reform.

You can see the interview here. It starts at the 15-minute mark.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Unfortunately, the interview scheduled for today on the Brian Lehrer Show was canceled (we got bumped by the governor). I’ll let you know if they’re able to reschedule it. In the meantime, here’s a link to a YouTube clip of my coauthor and I speaking at the New America Foundation last month (embedded video after jump), and here’s a link to a Bill Moyers Journal blog post about my coauthor’s interview with Moyers earlier this month.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Katherine S. Newman, a Princeton sociologist and my coauthor, will be discussing our book The Missing Class: Portaits of the Near Poor in America on the next edition of Bill Moyers Journal. The show is broadcast at 9 p.m. tonight on most PBS stations.

Also, Newman and I will be appearing on the Brian Lehrer Show, a radio program on New York’s WNYC station, on Thursday, Nov. 15, from 11:06-11:40 a.m. It’s a live studio interview with call-ins.

As for upcoming events, Newman and I will be doing a book reading in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the First Parish Church on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. The address is 3 Church Street, which is adjacent to Harvard Yard.

I’ll be doing a book reading at Manhattan’s New York Public Library on Monday, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. The address is 455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th St.), across the street from the central research library.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

Here’s a link to a Marketplace interview with my coauthor, and here’s a link to a recent column by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert that mentions our book.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

AlterNet published an excerpt of my book, The Missing Class, and here is a link to a radio interview I did last week on "Sound Off With Sasha," a news program on an NPR affiliate in Southwest Florida.

The Nation has an interview with my co-author, Katherine S. Newman, regarding the book. 

An updated list of interviews and book readings follows.

RADIO/TV INTERVIEWS

The Progressive Forum on KPFT-FM (Pacifica Houston). Thursday, Sept. 13, 8–8:30 p.m. Eastern, 7–7:30 p.m. Central. This interview will be live.

The Exchange (New Hampshire Public Radio). Tuesday, Sept. 18, 9–10 a.m. This interview will be live.

Marketplace (American Public Media). Tuesday, Sept. 18, 11-11:20 a.m. This interview will be taped with air date to come.

Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC (NPR New York). Tuesday, Sept. 18, 12-12:40 p.m.

Tavis Smiley Show (PRI). I’m not sure about the broadcast date. This interview will be taped on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 11:30–11:45 a.m.

Late Mornings on KVON Radio (Napa, Calif.). Monday, Sept. 24, 11:30 a.m. Eastern, 8:30 a.m. Pacific. This interview will be live.

Joy Cardin Show on Wisconsin Public Radio. Wednesday, Sept. 26, 9-10 a.m. Eastern, 8-9 a.m. Pacific. This interview will be live with call-ins.

Radio Times on WHYY Radio (NPR Philadelphia). Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10–11 a.m. This interview will be live.

Bob Edwards Show on XM Satellite Radio. I’m not sure about the broadcast date. This interview will be taped in studio on Monday, Oct. 1, 9-9:45 a.m.

Diane Rehm Show on WAMU Radio (National NPR). This interview will be live with call-ins and will be syndicated to 100 public radio stations across the country. Monday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.

To the Contrary on PBS. Broadcast dates will vary. The interview will be taped on Monday, Oct. 1, 3-3:30 p.m.

Midmorning with Kerri Miller (Minnesota Public Radio). Wednesday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Eastern, 10-11 a.m. Central. This interview will be live with call-ins. 

ARCHIVED INTERVIEWS 

Thom Hartmann Show on KPOJ Radio (Portland, Ore.). Wednesday, Aug. 29, 10-10:15 a.m. Eastern, 7-7:15 a.m. Pacific. Here is the archive of the interview.

Sound Off With Sasha on WGCU/WMKO-FM (public radio, Southwest Florida). Friday, Sept. 7, 2-2:30 p.m. Here is an archive of the interview.

BOOK READINGS

Washington D.C., Monday, Oct. 1, 12:30-2 p.m.: The New America Foundation/Workforce and Family Program, 1630 Connecticut Ave NW, 7th Floor.

Cambridge, Mass., Friday, Oct. 5, 7 p.m.: Harvard Coop Bookstore, 1400 Massachusetts Ave., reading and signing.

Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m.: Cambridge Forum, First Parish (Unitarian Universalist), 3 Church Street.

New York City, Monday, Dec. 10, 6:30 p.m.: New York Public Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, across the street from central research library.

PRINT ARTICLES

AlterNet.org: Excerpt (September 6, 2007)

The Nation: Interview (August 13, 2007 issue)

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen

NOTE: You can find The Missing Class at your bookstore, or order it on Amazon or Powells.com. (Use these links and a portion of the sale price goes to InTheFray.)

Sorry that I’ve been away from this blog for so long. One of the reasons for the delay is that the book I co-authored — The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America — has just come out. The New York Times mentions the book in Sunday’s edition.

I co-authored The Missing Class with Princeton sociologist Katherine S. Newman. Senator John Edwards wrote the foreword. The book focuses on the nearly one in five Americans who live just above the poverty line, a population much larger than those living in poverty. They work long hours, sometimes at multiple jobs, but they do not receive many public benefits (which are for the poor) and lack real financial security. In fact, some of the families we write about eventually fell back into poverty after a layoff, divorce, illness, or other crisis.

My hope is that through the stories of the nine families profiled in this book, we can bring more attention to this ignored population and inspire discussion about policies that could keep these hard-working Americans from slipping back down the economic ladder. Poverty takes a toll not just on the families who suffer it, but also on society in general, which must bear the collective costs in ruined health, growing crime, blighted neighborhoods, and wasted potential. We should be doing more to help these families avoid such a fate.

There will be some book events and radio/TV interviews in the coming months. Please check this blog (inthefray.org/politicalprose) for the latest schedule. And please spread the word!

UPDATED 9/26/07: Please see more recent posts for an updated schedule.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen