“The Love Boat for Policy Wonks”?

“The love boat for policy wonks” is how the New York Times describes The Nation magazine Caribbean cruise, setting sail in December from Miami. I got the email from The Nation with a rundown on the speakers:

  • Katrina vanden Heuvel looks ahead to Election 2016.
  • Ralph Nader decries the toxic influence of money and politics and shows how we can do better.
  • Patricia Williams explores the alarming American ritual of racial killings.
  • John Nichols highlights the democratic pushback against austerity in the United States.
  • Greg Grandin offers a new account of Henry Kissinger, America’s most controversial diplomat, that moves beyond praise or condemnation to reveal him as the architect of America’s current imperial stance.
  • Mark Green reflects on what it takes to make meaningful change.
  • Maria Margaronis details Greece’s fight against austerity and what it means for social struggle everywhere.
  • D.D. Guttenplan tells the surprising story behind America’s oldest weekly magazine.
  • Laura Flanders lifts up the often obscure voices making change in the most challenging situations.
  • Robert Scheer explains how data-collecting corporations are destroying democracy.
  • Zoë Carpenter tells why your local library is on the front lines against government surveillance.
  • Amy Wilentz offers the sad history of US influence on Haiti.
  • Kai Wright explains how and why black America’s lost generation is starting to speak up.
  • Elizabeth Streb shows how Pop Action can change your life.

Doesn’t it just sound like the best day ever, as Squidward might say?  I note that although Amy Wilentz is speaking about the problems of Haiti, The Nation cruise isn’t stopping there to help out. Nor is it stopping in Cuba, though that might be sensible on The Nation’s part because too many of their customers might not return to the ship.

Bonus:

“AND a pre-cruise send-off featuring a freewheeling, intimate conversation with Representative Alan Grayson on December 12—free for all booked passengers!”

And isn’t Ralph Nader about 106 years old by now?

If The Nation cruise looks too exciting, there’s still time to sign up for the much calmer cruise I’m going on out of Copenhagen next month (August 16 – 23) with our pals at the Pacific Research Institute. Details here.

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