Jodi: Track Day

Jodi Solomon, our fearless leader, riding her BMW R850R on Track Day. To learn more about Jodi and why she founded her progressive speakers bureau, click here.

Back to School!

Since school is back in session, maybe it's time to get to know a few of our professors!

Robert Bullard is the Ware Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. He's also called the "father of environmental justice" and is the author of 15 books.

Stephanie Coontz teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and is Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families. She is the author of "Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage" and is currently completing a book about the women whose lives were changed by Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique.”

Steve Brodner teaches narrative art at the School of Visual Arts. He is also a satirical illustrator and journalist whose work has been featured in virtually every recognized magazine or newspaper, including The New Yorker, Esquire, The Progressive, the Village Voice and others.

Susan Douglas is the Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor of Communication Studies at The University of Michigan and Chair of the Department. She is also the author of “The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How it Undermines Women.” Her new book, “Enlightened Sexism” will be released March 1, 2010.

Tim Riley is currently the Journalist-in-Residence at Emerson College in Boston, where he uses his multi-media skills to explore the continuing free speech debate as it expands from cultural controversies. Riley is the NPR rock critic, as well as the author of numerous books, including “Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary,” which was hailed by The New York Times for bringing “new insight to the act we’ve known for all these years.”

Sure, these aren't ALL of our speakers who work as professors. But it gives you a taste of our speakers and their diverse interests. Looking to bring in a speaker for your college? Click here.

Video Friday: Bruce Jacobs

Anti-racism advocate, author, and phenomenol public speaker Bruce A. Jacobs talks about what is fueling bigotry now and what to do about it.

As a nationally-praised author and speaker, Bruce A. Jacobsinspires people to question our media, turn off today’s “rage talk” shows, and have real conversations with friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

Learn more about Bruce A. Jacobs at JodiSolomonSpeakers.com/BruceJacobs.

GUILTY! And I haven't even finished my coffee...

Combine a vaguely-written federal law and an over-eager federal prosecutor, and WHAM! You're in front of a grand jury before you can say 'huh?'.

Attorney/legal scholar Harvey Silverglate's new book Three Felonies a Day shows how, for three decades, federal prosecutors and judges have abused their authority to extort and threaten typical Americans.

Harvey will be reading from his book tonight at the Harvard Coop at 7 PM, and Jodi Solomon Speakers will be there in force!

NOVA + "The Pluto Files" = Awesomeness

OK. How much do you love Neil deGrasse Tyson? And NOVA Science Now? and "The Pluto Files?"

Well, PBS NOVA is doing a documentary on "The Pluto Files" and shooting started this month. The documentary will hopefully be broadcast in early spring, in commensurate with the release of the paperback version of the book.

Awesome!

Music for Nothing

Jeff Lieberman isn't just the guy on Discovery Channel's hit show Time Warp. Lieberman, alongside his friend Eric Gunther, makes up the band gloobic.

They just finished the album Music for Nothing, which features guitars, ukuleles, rhodes, ice cold droplets of water,thousands of little static-bugs, robotic crickets, heavy breathing, men masquerading as schoolgirls, and some bloody crunchy beets. Lieberman describes it as "quite pastoral. Kermitesque you might say."

Learn more about gloobic, check out the album on Amazon, or read about Jeff Lieberman.

Jerry Lawson: A Cappella King in NYC!

Live in New York City? Looking for something to do today? Check out Jerry Lawson, backed by the Groove Barbers, at The Bitter End!

Learn more about Jerry Lawson at JodiSolomonSpeakers/JerryLawson.

Let's All Go To The Movies!

Guess what comes out today? "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," the highly anticipated 3D action-adventure animation! Based on the book of the same title, the film stars lots of well-known stars including our friend Bruce Campbell.

Bruce currently stars in the hit show Burn Notice and is responsible for the cult hit series Evil Dead. He's also the NY Times bestselling author of "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor" and "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way." Surely his ironic sense of humor helped land him a role in "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!"

So check out the movie and keep your ears peeled for the voice of Bruce, who is playing the Mayor!

Putting Your Trash To The Test

Annie Leonard is the author and host of the online documentary "The Story of Stuff," which exposes the environmental and social costs of current systems of production and consumption.

She portrays the consequences of "stuff" in an easy-to-digest format and makes it impossible not think about where our daily waste goes.

Inspired by this idea, Amy Dufault, contributing writer for The Cape Cod Times, decided to measure all the trash her family created in just one week.

She says:

"Sure, there was probably less trash than there would be in many homes, thanks to our heavy recycling efforts. But with two children, ages 11 and 8, a husband and a remodeling project, we still collected a lot.

By Sunday night, in just 48 hours, we had three half-full barrels of trash."

Read the rest of the adventure here.

But what about you? Think you and your family could measure your trash for a week? As Amy said at the end of her experiment, "I realized anew after my trash-collection weekend that we can never underestimate the power of one family recycling. We could each make a difference in the amount of garbage we create at home, or when we're traveling."

So check out Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff" and take a cue from Amy's family: Think about what you can do at home to help conserve.

(And did you know that "The Story of Stuff" is now available in Spanish? Check out "La Historia de las Cosas." )

Falling Age of Puberty

Did you know that the average age of puberty for girls nowadays is 10 for white girls and 8.9 for black girls?

And not to sound like a cantankerous grandmother, but back when ecologist Sandra Steingraber was a sixth grader (1971) most girls didn't hit puberty until 11.

"But what's the big deal?" you may be asking yourself.

As Sandra explains in The Burlington Free Press article "Falling age of puberty in girls presents health risk," early puberty opens the exposure of estrogen to girls and increases the risk of breast cancer, which already strikes one in eight U.S. women.

Plus, "puberty re-sculpts the brain and allows it to perform some tasks — such as abstract thinking — that it couldn’t master during childhood. But the childhood brain has some advantages over the adult brain: It’s easier for children to start a foreign language, learn a musical instrument or try out a sport, Steingraber said. Early puberty robs girls of this time." writes the author, Molly Walsh.

Read more from journalist Molly Walth and ecologist Sandra Steingraber, here.

A world renowned ecologist, Sandra Steingraber is an expert on the links between cancer and the environmentl reforming chemical policy and contimination without consent. To learn more about Sandra Steingraber, please visit JodiSolomonSpeakers/SandraSteingraber.

Video Friday: Tim Riley on the Beatles Remastered

With all the buzz about the release of the Beatles Remastered, it's easy to forget exactly why the new release is such a big deal.

Luckily, Tim Riley, author of "Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary" and contributing music critic for NPR, spoke with Jeffrey Brown on the NewsHour about the Beatles Remastered.

As Tim explains, the remastering is a "major refurbishing of one of the essential milestones in the rock music catalog."He continues, saying "it's like we're removing the cotton from our ears. There really is this sense that all these familiar songs are being made fresh and new again."

Watch the full video, alongside related material, here.

Learn more about Tim Riley by visiting JodiSolomonSpeakers/TimRiley.

A British Invasion

Released today, CNN has already called the newly remastered Beatles box sets "a treat for a casual fan and a dream come true for die-hards." And people (especially 'round here in Boston!) are already talking about the ability for three players to sing and harmonize all at once with the new Beatles: Rock Band game, which was also released today.

No doubt, it's a Beatles kind-of day.

And if you're a serious fan, then maybe you should check out “Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary,” by NPR rock critic Tim Riley. The book was hailed by The New York Times for bringing “new insight to the act we’ve known for all these years" and The Salt Lake City Tribune said simply, "his exhaustive research on the songs, including much of the Beatles' solo work, does what every book on the Beatles should do: explain how four boys from Liverpool revolutionized popular music."

It's a perfect day to check out "Tell Me Why" and an even more perfect time of year to bring Tim Riley to your school, organization or non-profit. Who wouldn't want to listen to a presentation on the Beatles?! (Besides: When the event is over, you can head home to play a little Beatles Rock Band!)

Learn more about Tim Riley at JodiSolomonSpeakers/TimRiley.

Video Friday: "At the Edge of the World" Trailer

Salon admits that if you're already inclined to believe that Sea Shepherd's tactics are reckless and irresponsible, the film "At the Edge of the World" isn't likely to change your mind.

But Salon writer Andrew O'Hehir injects his own opinion into his review of the documentary:

"What I see here is 46 people from many different walks of life all over the world who have rejected a life of passive, snarky Internet citizenship in favor of something much more vigorous, and dangerous. They've put their lives and freedom at risk in rust-bucket pirate ships in the vastness of the Southern Ocean. They've survived fear and icebergs and violent seasickness and saved the lives of hundreds of whales. They've seen Antarctica and had a life-transforming experience. If "At the Edge of the World" is an eco-fringe recruitment video, I can't imagine a better one."

Check out the trailer for the award-winning film "At the Edge of the World" (starring Captain Paul Watson) below. To learn more about Paul Watson, or to bring him to your school, non-profit, or organization, click here.

Applying Lead to Your Lips?

Everytime you gloss on a bright red hue of lipstick, you're also introducing lead into your system.

Seriously

Years ago, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported there was lead in more than 60% of the 33 top lipsticks. The study was groundbreaking and the FDA promised to look into the situation.

Now, in 2009, the FDA has finally conducted its own study on lipstick lead. And the findings? Worse than anyone originally anticipated.

The FDA found lead in 20 of all lipsticks it tested, with levels ranging fro 0.01 parts per million (ppm) to 3.06ppm, some almost four times the highest level found in the 2007 study. The results were published in the July/August 2009 issue of the Journal of Cosmetic Science.

But what exactly is the problem with trace amounts of lead on your lips? Treehugger stated it best: Lead is "...a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language, and behavioral problems, lead in lipstick—in any amount—is a health concern, says the CSC, especially because lipstick is applied several times a day, every day. The heavy metal can build up in the body over time, adding to significant exposure levels." (After all, we removed lead from cars, blinds, paint, etc. And you don't even expose your system to those products!)

So it's safe to say that lead in lipsticks isn't a brilliant idea and we'll just have to wait and see how the FDA handles the situation as we move forward. But, in the meantime, you can help!

Learn more about toxic chemicals in your cosmetics by visiting the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics or check out the full Treehugger article here.

And don't forget: you can always bring Stacy Malkan (founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics) to your school, organization or non-profit to hear her expert opinion on the subject. Learn more here.