{"id":8493,"date":"2014-11-20T12:09:43","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T18:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/?p=8493"},"modified":"2014-11-23T14:47:21","modified_gmt":"2014-11-23T20:47:21","slug":"november-22-2014-diane-ackerman-the-human-age-john-dowd-jr-compassion-and-steven-g-blum-negotiating-your-investments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbadamslive.com\/?p=8493","title":{"rendered":"November 22, 2014 – Diane Ackerman, “The Human Age,” John Dowd Jr., “Heroes, Mentors, and Friends,” and Steven G. Blum, “Negotiating Your Investments”"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 22, 2014 – Archives\/Pod Casts\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hour 1 <\/a> –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hour 2 <\/a>–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hour 3<\/a><\/p>\n

Hour 1:\u00a0 Diane Ackerman<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"\"Joining Amerika Now during the first hour is bestselling author Diane Ackerman<\/strong>, who will be discussing her latest book, The Human Age:\u00a0 The World Shaped By Us.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a mere 200 years, humans have changed the look, chemistry, plants, animals, and weather of the entire planet. We are now at the dawn of a new era, the Anthropocene, when humanity’s impacts are registered on planetary and geologic scales.\u00a0 This situation is unparalleled in earth\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Humans have “subdued 75 percent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial and medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness.” We tinker with nature at every opportunity; we garden the planet with our preferred species of plants and animals, many of them invasive; and we have even altered the climate, threatening our own extinction. Yet we reckon with our own destructive capabilities in extraordinary acts of hope-filled creativity: we collect the DNA of vanishing species in a “frozen ark,” equip orangutans with iPads, and create wearable technologies and synthetic species that might one day outsmart us. With her distinctive gift for making scientific discovery intelligible to the layperson, Diane Ackerman will take us on an exhilarating journey through our new reality, introducing us to many of the people and ideas now creating\u2014perhaps saving\u2014our future and that of our fellow creatures.<\/p>\n

\"\"Diane will discuss this new era, the Anthropocene, and delve into the important cultural awakening that is ongoing, answering such questions as: How will cities, wild animals, and our own biology change in fifty years?\u00a0 What sort of stewards of the future will today\u2019s digital children be?\u00a0 She’ll also talk about some of the fascinating people making a difference today for tomorrow’s world as well as reveal many of the ways we’ve altered our bodies, our planet, our minds, our future, and linchpins of everyday life.<\/p>\n

Diane Ackerman <\/strong>has been the finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in addition to many other awards and recognitions for her work, which includes the best-selling\u00a0The Zookeeper\u2019s Wife <\/em>and\u00a0A Natural History of the Senses<\/em>.\u00a0 Her memoir, One Hundred Words for Love, <\/em>was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has hosted the PBS series Mystery of the Senses<\/em> and has the rare distinction of having a molecule named after her.\u00a0 She lives with her husband, Paul West, in Ithaca, New York.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit http:\/\/www.dianeackerman.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

NO CALLS, THIS SEGMENT WAS PRERECORDED.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hour 2:\u00a0 John Dowd Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Author-speaker John Dowd, Jr.<\/strong> joins the show during the second hour to discuss six ways to cultivate compassion from his book, Heroes, Mentors, <\/strong><\/em>and Friends:\u00a0 Learning from Our Spiritual Guides.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you feel that your stress levels are constantly rising, you’re not alone.\u00a0 The evidence of an anxiety epidemic is all around.\u00a0 We’re busier and more self-absorbed than ever, with less time to devote to others.\u00a0 Even when we do<\/em> have breaks, our fuses are short and we lose our minds if everything isn’t perfect.\u00a0 Compassion seems to be on its way out–and John Dowd Jr. wants to make sure the pendulum doesn’t swing farther.\u00a0 John believes that by practicing compassion, we’re guaranteed a way to bring positivity to others’ lives as well as to our own.<\/p>\n

John joins the show to discuss six ways to cultivate compassion in our self-absorbed \"\"world, including (1) ask yourself if what happened is really <\/em>that big of a deal; (2) think about how you’re coming across to others; (3) step in to help others; (4) stop thinking like a victim; (5) remember those people who gave you<\/em> a break; and (6) learn self-love by going easier on yourself.<\/p>\n

As John says, “And don’t forget, what goes around comes around!\u00a0 Showing compassion now, especially when you don’t have to, can make a big difference in how you’re<\/em> treated down the road.”<\/p>\n

Author-speaker John Dowd Jr. is the author of Heroes, Mentors, and Friends:\u00a0 Learning from Our Spiritual Guides. <\/em>In addition, John is a veteran 25-year on-air Broadcaster and Program Director with experience in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Providence, and Hartford.\u00a0 He’s a four-time winner of Radio Ink\u2019s \u201cBest Programmers in America\u201d award and has appeared as a voice talent on radio and television commercials across the country as well as on three national radio countdown shows.\u00a0 Since 1991 John has programmed nine radio stations throughout America.\u00a0 Currently, you can hear John (aka Jaybeau Jones) on Sirius XM’s ’70s on 7<\/em> weekdays from 12 to 6 p.m.\u00a0 On weekends, John’s talk show, Heroes, Mentors, and Friends<\/em> airs around the world on iHeartRadio.com.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For more information, visit http:\/\/www.johndowdjr.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

NO CALLS, THIS SEGMENT WAS PRERECORDED.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hour 3:\u00a0 REBROADCAST <\/span>– Steven G. Blum (from September 27, 2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Expert negotiator and professor in the Department of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Steven G. Blum<\/strong>, joins the show during the final hour to discuss Negotiating Your Investments:\u00a0 Use Proven Negotiation Methods to Enrich Your Financial Life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s often been said that everything is open for negotiation \u2013 prices, schedules, and even those items supposedly carved in stone.\u00a0 Life\u2019s a series of negotiations, and while we may realize this in theory, we probably don\u2019t realize how often it applies in practice.\u00a0 Think about it, your work schedule, your pay and benefits, prices on cars and in big box stores, cell phone contracts\u2026you name it, it\u2019s negotiable.\u00a0 And once you realize that, it\u2019s a different way of looking at the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cSharpen your negotiating skills and you\u2019ll unlock options and opportunities that you may have assumed were closed to you,\u201d Blum says. \u201cThis can truly change your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Negotiating Your Investments<\/strong> <\/em>is an in-depth guide to applying proven principles of negotiation to your personal finances. With expert insight into the before, during, and after of a successful negotiation, you\u2019ll learn how to prepare for and conduct important financial discussions with an eye toward getting the best possible outcome. What\u2019s more, you\u2019ll learn how to use basic negotiating skills outside the world of investing.<\/p>\n

Before you can negotiate anything, however, you have to know how to start the dialogue and how to ask right the questions.\u00a0 Blum will offer such tips as<\/p>\n