as first lady what was your relationship with the chiefs of staff? >> two unbelievably great chiefs of staff, five men. i was close to both of them and both made an effort to have lunch with me once or twice a month and just so we can have a chance to visit so i could talk about what bothered me or i was interested in. they saw coming up on the schedule they thought would involve mesa that was great to have that relationship with them. andrew card's wife is a methodist minister so on the day after september 11th when i went to visit with my staff who were young women, many straight at of college who never expected to see to run from the white house, they thought they ever coming to a glamorous wife house job but had to kick off her high heels and run on september

september 11th. i asked andrew card's wife kathleen to come with me because she's a methodist minister and she was able to counsel with my young staff members who were getting used to the idea of having a job a lot more dangerous than they ever expected. >> three final questions, who is a lyric? >> america is one of my very good friends who help me with this book. she lives in washington thomas to live here the entire time we did which was very helpful because she knew what it was like to live in washington during the years i was writing. her husband is an historian. i hope the assets of national book festival riders who has written to magnificent books about the last week of the civil war, george read it early on in his presidency. we both were very fond of it. the other i'm not sure is called the great of tivo and is a

history of what was going on during the time of the founding of the u.s.. i found it so interesting because we think of our founding in a vacuum. did you know that catherine and the czar of russia when the u.s. was founded, it's a great way two. our revolution of the american revolution into perspective. >> for viewers interested we have covered him on booktv, the 02 booktv.org, the search function, you can type in the name and watch it online free of charge. second boston, and in "spoken from the heart" you write: in 2004 the social question that animated the campaign was a marriage appear before the election season unfold and i talked to george about not making a very significant issue. we have a number of close friends who are gay or whose children are gay. have you talked to ken that since he came out? >> i haven't talked to him since

but i talk to him right before. he was in dallas and we had to fly in this administration people to talk about the bush institute building as part of the bush library and can was there a. view is my dinner party that night. i respect very much his decision to go public two because i know it's difficult, it's very difficult for many people to be able to get men -- and mid their feelings and especially in the republican party but i am proud that many republicans and many other people have accepted and zero is accepted can as a great friend. exempted his choices. >> finally mrs. bush what are you reading and what is the president reading? >> i am reading books that booksellers can meet on my book tour, when of the great things is the bookseller's all over the

united states there for book signings so they would give me the books they just read that they highly recommended and one is my name is mary souter, historical fiction about the civil war. out in his very excellent beer, then another is cutting for stone, a texas book festival, i'm not sure if he has been a national book festival writer or not it is historical fiction also about to ethiopia during the time of fascinating story about twins. my twin -- my twins are reading it. jann know when to ethiopia with care on a trip there. she wanted to read that especially around her trip. >> what is the present rating? >> he is reading in excellent biography of of bon hopper that i am an anxious to get my hands on. >> we got that at booktv and

will cover that at some point. laura bush is the founder of the national book festival and the author of "spoken from the heart". she was first lady for eight years as well. thank you for being at." the program runs just over 30 minutes. >> howa -- i'm dylan. >> i have to warn everybody that i'm wired. everything that you say -- >> she was doing all of the stuff for you. you weren't noticing.

>> this is a lifestyle. >> yeah, it's a lifestyle thing. it's surrounding her. >> i figure you need to warn people. anything that -- maybe i should be wearing a thing. >> you should wear a sign around your neck, i'm wired, be careful, i'll put it on the front of the "huffington post." >> thank you. >> if you are greek, you are in. [laughter] >> that's great. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> he thought for a second about some of the things that you are going to ask? >> well, i've been around the country. "the huffington post" as the third world america section. people having sharing stories, stories of struggles, and overcoming obstacles.

that encouraging people to show their own story. >> i want to talk to you and get your thoughts on elections. we're less than a month away. there's a lot of talk is the gop is going to take over the house. what is your thoughts? do you see it happening? >> well, everything can change between now and the election. that's the amazing thing about politics. who would have predicted who would be now two years ago; right? it seems incredible. so right now what matters is to try and have a debate that goes beyond demonizing particular groups and immigrants and muslims. because that's extremely un-american. >> also, what are your hopes for this election? >> well, i really -- what is happening? i feel very great to already start the debate. people are coming together to really look at ways that we can

right now at least alleviate some of the pain out there. >> he was saying we can't interrupt you, you gorgeous girl. >> thank you for coming. >> how was your book? >> thank you. so prepared. >> absolutely. we wouldn't miss it. you've gone from one success to the next. it's amazing. >> awe. look at you. >> you have a new acquisition. who was it that just joined you? >> howard. >> i congratulated him. >> we had communications for us. >> hi. how are you? >> my name anna. >> anna. designs the exquisite jewelry that all of the most stylish women in washington wear. >> how long are you back here?

>> i'm leaveing tomorrow. now i've moved to new york. i'm here a lot. i still have my home in l.a. but i'm here a lot. >> write it with an accent, will you? >> i want you to. >> both of the pictures here. >> can you have us? >> group. >> yes. hugs. >> come on over there. come on. come on. wait a second. i want you to meet someone. seth green. >> it is a pleasure. >> so, seth, two years ago lost his job at the concierge in portland. >> where? >> portland, oregon. he is who i write about in the

book. do we have time to help him? >> we do. bringing unemployed volunteers. we've got them to help. because we're not working. >> so forget the resumé. >> and now -- >> no. they don't. nothing does. >> you know, we take our time. >> i had an idea. which was over productivity. >> right. >> 15 cameramen, you know how many now? robots. nobody can sell. >> that's very true. so we need a new market, rebuild america. catch up to china and catch up to europe in the transportation. which is nothing is greener than a nice railroad. i have one dream. rebuild the american railroads. no more flying over countries. no more l.a. to new york, you got to go through them. no more plane rides. you got to take the train, stop

and say hi st. louis, hi, cleveland, you can't just look down on it. isn't that a great rule. take the train. [laughter] >> thank you. >> arianna. >> you are going to win your buddies. >> yeah. yeah. that's one thing; right? that's one thing they did. >> nobody is going to believe that she couldn't afford to hire somebody legally in the documentary. you have all of the money in the world. >> you said it. >> nine years of never having a conversation about whether she's legal or not. oh, she's like family. you never asked her. is everything all right. the minute she decides to run for office, we better clear the deck. >> you know what happened. >> i know. i was there. >> you probably came in on the first-class ticket. >> she rode the train.

what are you talking about? >> the train in europe. how about a shuttle? shuttle in europe. that'll put half of the people in the country to work. >> what's her name? >> kathleen. that's her nickname. she gets paid for if she's kathleen. >> is it l double en. >> k-a-t-h-l-e-e-n. >> what about them? >> arianna, they live in a block in georgetown. >> how about your kids? how about your actor son? >> we'll talk. [inaudible conversations] >> i was up here. i thought you had the wrong day. you got here. >> that's fantastic. really. >> when do you start? >> in a couple of weeks. >> are you going to be staying here? >> yeah. in the washington bureau, it's

really hard after 29 years in one place. i think it was time to try something new. >> you'll take over the new bureau. >> yeah, that's what i figured. you have been hiring some of the msnbc types as well. >> honestly i think -- >> do you think the balance of power is shifting? >> you and i talked about this five years ago. it's like the future is going to be hybrid. >> right. >> it's not going to be at all. >> right. >> but at the time, remember, when we first launched, it looked like two absolutely unbreechable worlds; right? >> totally. >> the summers and making -- >> and the next thing that goes is what tv goes that way. broadcast is going to split open. it's inevitable. i think tv is going to -- >> yeah. no, that's exciting. and thank you so much for giving

me permission to go to america. >> oh, you know -- of course, i wouldn't have hesitated. it was nice. >> yeah. it was last minute. you know? i'm working the thing. >> i know what people tell you. i'm going to care for you. but any time someone brings up family, of course. >> and it worked. because i saw you today now. >> right. right. that's what i do. glen black beck says go be with your daughter. now your in america. >> exactly. now i'm there. anyway. >> glad to be here. >> arianna huffington, dylan. dylan, arianna was on the show today. >> yeah. >> how's she's doing on the book? >> she has a standard fair of

doing anything that can happen. truly, you are a model for a way to be. not just a way to think or a way to do. i think what the book represents is that. because the book, while it's incredibly critical of certain aspects of the way we are running the country, the book ultimately uses, and compliments to you for using the energy and criticism to try to cart a path towards solution, as opposed using it as a way to foster undeveloped anger or unchanneled anger in the country. >> how did that come about? >> well, i wrote about susie in the book. find your own target. which is what mother used to tell the volunteer. we have been talking about her and about seth green. he has time to help out. he loves his job.

it's great that dylan brought the two of them together. >> i don't care. whatever it takes for him to get there. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. [applause] >> so i'm actually not here to confront -- [microphone buzz] >> i am here to deal with reality. i'm going to give you a little bit of reality before we begin. i'll start with my own reality. then we'll talk about yours. [laughter] >> based on most of the polling, myself and where's chris matthews, i saw him out there somewhere. [applause] >> we're all about to get fired. they don't like the media. so, the unemployment problem is about to get worse in the media. it's not just us though. they don't like the politicians, in fact, they don't care for much anybody in the backyard, last i checked. [laughter] >> so our objective tonight is to keep our jobs.

[laughter] >> starting with my own. but how do we do that? well, i got my job by yelling at everybody. maybe people in this room. but i don't think i'm going to be able to keep my job by yelling at anybody this point forward. in fact, yelling at anybody about anything seems to be a lousy way to solve a problem. and in the context of arianna being here, and what her book represents to me, and i think if you've had a chance to look at it, and arianna is very gracious in that she doesn't ask everybody to read her book. she just asks everybody to read the last 30 pages of her book. there's a reason for that. it's because while a lot of this book goes to a lot of problems that are in this country and the problems that we have structural, and the problems we have cultural, arianna's point, i agree with her, the last 30 pages really speak to the solutions that need to be

pursued as a group in this country. again, i'll start with myself. instead of looking at those that i view as the problem, i've -- i look in the mirror and look at myself as the problem. and what i mean when i say that is the way that i choose to relate to the people in my life, specifically in the context of my profession, and specifically in the context of the way that i relate to the people that i disagree with the most goes directly to my ability to actually be beneficial in the way that i spend those days. and that has been an incredible process for me as i've navigated my way to my new role as political pain in the ass that i am, or cable pain in the ass that i am. and to try to do it in a way with the new phrase that we've been using on our staff and show with the culture of building bridges and not motes.

and one the things that i think goes most to that is an ability to both have resolve, and understand the need and the necessity for resolution in our own life and in the decisions that i make in my own life, and we make in our own lives. we know where the lighthouse is. we understand the necessity of roaming in that direction through whatever the weather maybe. and at the same time, have the awareness that a) none of us are right all of the time. most of us are not right most of the time. even when we are right, being right doesn't necessarily solve the problem. and i think that last one is the biggest one. because a lot of people, myself included, will frequently reside back on their -- the fact that they are correct. and they know that their assessment, whatever it is, and you may well know it, you are

correct. but to in -- to take that pause which i think is really, like i said, represented in the solution chapter that arianna has presented, not only in this book, but in the solution mission that arianna is currently leading recruiting people like myself, susie buffett, mike reams, everybody else in the backyard. she's the one that drags you out on the field even if we don't want to do this. the most critical point from all of it though, from this book, from my own navigation from what i wanted to share with you in this evening in my regard, is the imperative for all of us, regardless of who we are and where we are in the all of the rest of us to give us the concept of us and them, and to adopt the concept of us as a way

to be. as opposed as a thing to do. nothing captured that more than earlier today when we had arianna on the show, along with susie buffett, who's warren's daughter, and seth reams, who's the operator of we've got time to help. seth is here. we'll hear from him in a second. i said do you feel like you have a lot in common with the world's richest man. i don't feel like i have a lot in common in my mind with the daughter of the world's richest man. i think seth to speak to this, and i'll speak to it, spending time with the daughter of the world's richest man, you are not spending time with the daughter of the world's richest man, you are spending time with someone who has a value system to spread out of their domain.

because they know it must be done. the other point that arianna has been so em -- emphatic, the concept and having that mote that you are protected from whatever is happening is no longer adequate unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, for what we are going to have to navigate as a group in the country one way or another over the next decade or so. with that said, i would like to bring you up here, arianna, that, i'd like to get seth up here as well. to talk about not only your efforts here, but how many more people can be dragged on to the room to help. without further ado, arianna huffington and seth reams. >> thank you so much, dylan, thank you seth for being here. thank you all for coming. thank you for our wonderful hall. thank you to the tommy hadad.

i just feel so incredible that we got her out of her shell finally to host a party. [laughter] >> and ted, of course, thank you so much, ted. you know, tommy, and ted, and hillary for getting ready up in the bedroom. i actually fell asleep on their bed while everything was going on around. this is part of the "huffington post" dedication to sleep. we can do it anybody. it's such a family feeling that tommy and hillary and i have had for a long time now. thank you so much for opening up our backyard. we are having our own obama backyard party. [laughter] >> thank you to all of the other wonderful co-host, john, greta, anita, franco, and sally, thank you so much. thank you for coming here. dylan, thank you for what you said. you and i have been through the journey together. we first bonded over our anger.

i channeled my anger into writing. the title shows how angry i am about what's happened to the country, what's happened to the middle class, and what's happened to the 26 million people out of work or underemployed, what's happened to the 26 million people losing their homes this year. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. at some point in our different way, dylan and i reached the same conclusion. that's not going to get us anywhere. and that right now, this country is in deep crisis. much deeper than we fully realize. and we really have a moment of choice. we can channel that anger into dividing and demonizing and scapegoating. that's happening already all around us. that will destroy us. or we are take that anger and claw at it, because it's legitimate, and channel it into

rebuilding our communities, our lives, building bridges not motes. i discovered we have timetohelp.org. seth lost his job as a concierge in portland. after failing many job applications and not getting job, and after feeling depressed and feeling like a victim, he decided he had time. he created literally wehavetimetohelp.org a place for people who are out of work. although you didn't have to be, come together to help people with needs. the needs could be i'm pregnant and i need to move from my apartment. i don't have a truck. and i need somebody to help me. it could be as basic as that. or it could be i need child care for the night. anything. and seth and the network that he put together and the way he used

social media made it possible to help. and seth will talk for himself. but in the process, he didn't just help, he transformed the way he saw himself from being a victim to being somebody who was contributing to the world. and one the big problems of unemployment, it's not just a financial issue, it's a deeply psychological issue. so at the other end, i wrote about seth in my book. at the other end, i wrote about susie buffett in my book. she and i have had a deep conversation over a dinner in des moines, iowa of all places, when she says omaha is her backyard. all of the money is being spent in omaha. the library is closing, a child -- teenage girl is getting pregnant. she's there to help. >> how does she help in that way? >> actually her idea -- >> after she's pregnant?

>> her idea is to try to give it beforehand to give her money to go to the mall so she doesn't get pregnant. which is not likely to produce a congressional earmark; right? >> not without a lobbyist. >> so seth -- from seth to susie, the idea that whatever we are in life, whether we are out of work, or billions of dollars, it's the time right now in our nation's history, despite the plane going overhead, to step it up. to step up to the plate and do our part. so i want seth to say something. i want to thank dylan for putting seth on the show a couple of weeks ago. then i talked about seth being on the book tour. jon stewart, now he's been inundated with requests to actually help them start branches there. and the bottom line about that, instead of us focusing on the

deficits and shortages, we can stop focusing our on helplessness and what we have in time and skills we are not using. we started a not for profit right here to raise money for seth to help him build an infrastructure, to help him help others start what he started in portland. and the idea that little by little, while we are fighting the political battles about the role of government, about what we need to do to create jobs, to build the infrastructure, we can also be channeling our energy and frustration into building. that will change what's happening. because as we have seen in seth, america can be counted to do the right thing when and only when it has exhausted all other possibilities. and now we have exhausted all other possibilities.

it's time to do the right thing andset -- and seth is part of that right thing. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. i'm not nearly as eloquent as my cohorts up here. >> but we are your cohorts. >> you are my cohorts. [laughter] >> yes, we all -- every single person standing here tonight -- has something -- has something to offer to the rest of the country. everyone. whether it be mowing somebody's yard or lending a hand moving, or just an ear. we get so many e-mails and calls from people that just need to tell their story. they need somebody to hear the pain in their lives. that we all have that to offer. every single one of us. i don't care who you are or what

you do, how much time you have. yes, we have time to help. but we all have time to help. and there is as arianna and dylan spoke earlier, there is a surplus in this country. we must need to harvest it. there's a surplus of skills, a time of money, of everything. there is a surplus, and yet we have millions withering. and that's not okay. we need to change that. we can change that. so we harvest this time, these skills, of mostly unemployed people. but we have everything from ceos to unemployed people writing us saying i've got time. because everybody realizes that they've got time. and together without the government, without the states and the cities, and the panels, and the committees we can change

everything with our time and our skills. and that's what we want to do with we've got time. >> thank you. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. congratulations. i think your actually -- when i get fired, there will be an opening. >> you'll have time. >> i'll have time to help. you can have my job. one the things that was done this evening, as you surely know, was the solicitation for ideas. and things that can be done with time. here have that microphone. and airian -- arianna and i went through some of the ideas. should we reveal the intended use? so the intention of the selected ideas is to create a custom page on "the huffington post" and launch the adopted ideas program. where the ideas from this gathering, and others can be submitted, will be posted on

"the huffington post" we will use our joint flashlights, the tv show and at the "huffington post" to solicit people to look at the list of ideas. maybe they don't have time to help. maybe they have time to work in the library. maybe they don't have time to help, but they have time to cook or listen. we are going to ask people to adopt these ideas and push more ideas in so that we can get out of the business of feeling like we are powerless to deal with the problems and empowered to address the problems. can i ask you one question? because one thing that has struck me, not in just watching and getting to know you, seth, so many others that have made the decision to live outside of their own bubble have made the choice. those who do that tend to become

happier. those who make the decision to live outside of the bubble feel bubble or can lord it over their friends because they help. the personal satisfaction for anyone that breaks the effort to breakthrough the inertia of the mote. have you found that to be the case yourself? >> oh completely. completely. i mean we have -- obviously any time you do something for anyone else, it's a boost to your esteem, to your well being, to your, you know, -- we have people writing us that 3/4 of the way through their 15 paragraph e-mail we think what are they going to ask for? because it is i've lost this. i've lost this. i've lost this. i've lost this. and at the end of the e-mail, they say, but you know what, i want to help.

they don't ask us for anything. they want to help. even though they've lost their house. or their car, or job, or whatever -- they have lost everything. yet they still want to help. they realize how much helping somebody else, recognizing that somebody else is in trouble, how much that does for you. i mean, you know, i told you before on the show, it's better than a job. it's better than winning the lottery. it's -- you -- there are no words to describe mow -- how it feels to step out of yourself, your problems, and go help something else. >> i if think susie buffett fees the same way. >> right. >> with that said, do you want to do some cards here. you can raise some hands if you really like your idea.

>> we have prizes. >> we do have prizes if arianna likes your idea. that's a different thing. teaching a marketable skill. >> love it. >> does it get a prize? >> even if it wasn't your idea. if you want to do that. >> i have and -- hand stand. >> ann hand. where are you? ann, where you are? this is yours. it's your pillow. come and claim it. >> now i like this idea, but i just worry about the -- >> run a library? >> what about the internet? >> oh no. libraries are still useful during the time of internet. in >> -- >> what do you do with it? >> you get people to come and use it as a gathering place.

>> as a community center. yeah. >> good. that's why i have you. [laughter] >> i would volunteer to young boys who do not have day. males raised by young mothers are extremely susceptible. >> susana queen. thank you. [applause] >> whenever you get here, the pillow awaits you. [laughter] >> no. [laughter] >> it's the last card. it's the last card that i got. we are going to leave it at that. >> we are going to leave it at that. >> enjoy your evening. >> we have one surprise. we didn't tell arianna about it. it's not the hep corporate. -- helicopter. the president is not done. someone is celebrating a big birthday. let's all sing happy birthday to

arianna. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday, dear, arianna ♪ happy birthday to you [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >> dylan. seth. get in there. >> thanks for coming. plenty of food and drink, guys. and cake. >> okay. blow that. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> thank you so much. thank you for coming. >> happy you are here. >> happy for the wonderful interview. thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> i'm leaveing tomorrow.

>> take a bow. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]cent. it's my great pleasure to give you james mcgrath morris. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. about six months ago, i was doing what authors usually do, which is travel to small towns because they are people who buy and read books. i was in a bookstore where a really kind reader felt my pain and asked me a softball question. he said to me, you spent five years studying his life, is there any kind of practical thing you talent -- thing that you learned from it.

i thought. and six months later i have the answer. if he's out there, here's the answer. if you want to take notes, feel free. the answer is if you make a lot of money in life, and you endow a prize like pulitzer did, everybody will know the prize but they are not remember who the heck you were. and for me as an author, this actually gave me an opportunity. because there are a lot of giants in the 19th century. morgan, rockefeller, and we think they have no connection to our lives. but they do. most of you drove a oil-powered automobile to come here. we're talking about rockefeller. many of you hopefully are going to run over and buy a book. you're going to whip out of credit card. which is based on a financial system invented by morgan. well, pulitzer is one of those

geniuses from the 19th century who is the midwife who in a sense may have brought you here. you learned about the environment. maybe electricically on the "washington post" web site. by the idea of news and all of those things are owed to us or came to us from pulitzer. for me as an author, it's a great opportunity. i'm writing about one the giants of the 19th century who most people knew nothing about. unlike reading about morgan or rockefeller, it's an opportunity to tell you something new. i want to leave you with a couple of aspects on why pulitzer is so important to us. in a sense, his hand is still reaches out through the grave and touching our lives today and effecting the way we communicate, the way we organize news. i'm not going to tell you the story about pulitzer who started off as hungarian immigrant and soldier, i want to tell you how he reshaped journalism, which in

a sense was a boring craft before the man arrived and changed things. the first moment is in 1878. when he invest his last few dollars in buying a bankruptcy evening paper in the city of st. louis on the steps of the st. louis courthouse. the same courthouse that decide the dred versus scott decision. all of his friends thinks he's nuts. afternoon pay never a city where three afternoon papers are being published, none of which are making money. he's buying a bankrupt paper. this is one of the distinguishing momenting in his life that would reflect the characteristics to caused him to reshape our society. because he's not an inventor. he's not like bell or somebody that said we need a gadget where we can talk to each other. what he was is a man who would perceive huge social trends. sort of like we did before. and the analogy i give, people think i've really lost my

marbles when i ask you to imagine a surfer. here i am talks about a 19th century figure. i want you to see this before i talk about pulitzer. if you have ever been to the coast where there was surfer, look far past the waves where they are breaking, there, young men and women on their board, and old surfers too, let's just say men and women on their boards. they are paddling slowly. suddenly they paddle fast and ride a huge wave. somehow they are able to detect the slight undulation in the water and realize that's the big wave. pulitzer did that with our society. he realized that farmers were leaveing their farms in illinois and missouri and coming to the city because of industrialization. they were becoming factory workers. what were they doing? they were commuting. women who used to be important economic decision makers on the

farms were now becoming housewives. it's all going to play into something you were going to see in a second. gaslight and electric light allowed people to entertain themselves in the evening by reading. a new printing press had been invented by ho that would print quickly, paper was being made from trees that had the strength to go through the machines at high speed, and the victorian internet had arrived. you call it the telegram. bringing news from new york and washington to st. louis as fresh as that morning. so he took all of these ingredients and published an afternoon paper with news from washington and new york as fresh as that morning so that the commuters heading home desperate for entertainment filled with entertaining tales about the city and economic decision making material for the housewives, advertisements, where can you buy gingham,

flour? he created the new medium of mass communication in st. louis that became a huge success. so now let's move along and see why it went from st. louis to elsewhere. new york in the 1900s -- in the 19th century was really the capital of the united states. now i know you are thinking here i've come to washington and i'm saying i'm ignorant. no, this was a swamp infested place that only politicians went. broadway and the music and the theater. that was new york. publishing, that was new york. media, the newspapers, that was new york. and so pulitzer was waiting and biting his time to get to new york. he did the same. he came to new york, bought a bankrupt newspaper, brought his western style, and became an instant success there with a newspaper that none of us now anymore because it's gone, "the new york world."

he replicated what he had in st. louis, but added something very important. as an immigrant he looked to the lower east side of new york and saw the vast waves of new americans. he didn't see them as a threat. he saw them as strength. like himself. they were going to contribute. he admonished his reporters to go and write about their lives. so his reporters dissented on the lower east side and wrote stories about their lives. not just about their lives, they were using dickens about their model. tell stories about their lives. so the world would come out with a headline, tiny tot falls to his death as mother looks on. and on the upper reaches of 5th avenue where people drink the tea with the finger up. look at the prattle that's going on in the paper. and they were missing the point. because if you are went to the lower east side and you win in

the black and tan bars or the overcrowded dining rooms, what were those families talking about? they were talking about the children that had fallen off the floor the nice before it was so hot, something that we know today in this tent, so hot that in order to sleep, people went to the top floor and children sometimes at night rolled off the roofs to their death. so he went covering sensationalism. he was writing about their lives. and as a result, he gave them a newfound dignity, now if any of you were to invite me home, and don't worry this is just an analogy, you don't have to do this. i'm betting on your refrigerator you have a clipping. a clipping of your wedding, son and daughters school. those curred irregardless of the clipping opinion the clipping gives that moment a dignity.

a meaningful representation that you cherish and keep. well, imagine in the world before television and radio. those stories encapsulated their lives and gave dignity to those people. for once, somebody was paying attention. they would spend their pennies buying the paper, making it an enormous success, reaching a circulation of 1 million copies where there were only 64 million people in the united states. as this goes on, there's something else that relates to their lives. the french have decided to give us a gift. the statute of liberty. if you remember your history, it's a gift of the french people to the american people, not of the french government. the french people had raised the money privately and in turn, we were supposed to raise the money. but we were failing. so pulitzer pull it on the front page of his newspaper that the money to build the pedestal was

not coming in. he editorrized and said we need to bring the money in. people every day, poor people, kids, came to the paper and gave a penny or nickel. now it may not seem like much. pulitzer is like a robert barron. the poorest people in new york were coming in and entrusting him with their pennies and nickels. in return, he was putting their name in the newspaper. a kid with the street arabs, or you are you are -- urge comment. it was build with the money, and it was erected with the money of these people. pulitzer was changing the new york landscape by his new use of media and emptily if iing

trust. we have foundations and 501c3s. so there's another change that's going to go on that's going to symbolize how he's changed our lives and created -- it was the midlife of the modern mass media. his paper has become such a success. pulitzer's life is becoming a dramatic change. he's falling blind. like bay toe venn who can't here his own music. french's hotel. he had thrown him out of the

hotel. he buys the headquarters later. park row is significant. this is the world before twitter, cnn, before the instant communications. if you wanted to know who won the election, go down to park row. and on the buildings, they could have blackboards. cleveland is ahead. it wasn't just elections. when americas cup was waged, they telegraphed the results. they had small ships that moved across. there was a boxing match on one the islands. they are mare ya nets reenfacting the fight. now for those you old enough, you are going to get this. the crowd loved it, they asked them to do it again. this is instant replay a century before abc wild world of sports. park row is an interesting park

of aspect of the life of new york. fleet street, "tribune," the little newspaper called "the new york times," and the "herald" he built the tallest newspaper. it was a dome and gold leaf on the top of it. this was a crew that wrote the world and produced the paper that on sunday was as thick of a telephone book. with things like dress patterns. the greatest invention, of course, the color sunday comic or cartoon. sheet music that you could use to play long before we had ipods, buy and play the newest song that night in your home. recipes, serialization of novels, economic instructions. so the immigrant population turned to the world for all of

this kind of construction on sundays and gut it for just a few pennies. so this building went up. and it was the tallest building in the world at that point. on the globe. and it was at the center piece of new york. so just like he was redoing the american mass media and reshaping and he was reshaping the new york skyline in a way that's so symbolic that i want to finish telling you this tale. imagine these immigrants now coming to the united states in the late 19th century. 1890 or so. and folks, this isn't a casual trip. they are leaveing the ukraine, poland, and places like that. when they say good-bye to their parents, there's no flight home next year to come home for their the holiday. they probably never see their family alive. they are gambling their last pennies to come to the new land and get a foothold in the economic dream.

they are arriving in the new york harbor in the overcrowded ship. they come up to the deck. the first thing they are going to see is the statue of liberty on a pedestal erected by the pennies and nickels of the people that came before them. they maybe ignorant of the pedestal, but they knew what the statute of liberty is. they turned and looked at the new york sky line. it's the first view of the world in which they are basing their nurture hopes on. if the conditions are just right, the sun is gleaming after of the gold dome. and so the tallest building, taller than trinity church, the thing that's lighting up in the distance is not a monument of commerce, not a monument to banking or retail or agriculture. it's a monument to the american mass media, the only constitutionally protected business in our society. specifically, it's the first glimpse of the world newspaper

that will be their key to the economic growth. their key to learning americanisms of all sorts. their key to learning the english language. he admonished, pulitzer admonished reporters to write sentences to tell everything in the the form -- in the form of a story. his interest was political power. he hoped they would eventually turn to the page. the first president after the civil war is grover cleveland. do the math. it's the paper that got him elected. what pulitzer left us with after changing the new york landscape and media is a legacy we still have today. a notion of news at its core being a story. he would tell his reporters that every day i want people at dinner to say did you read that

in "the world" today. producers at nbc are saying i want them to see that story. the key to that is the story and the humanization of the story. think of all of the great tragedies that have occurred in our modern lives. the haiti earthquake, famine in africa. when you read that millions of people are hurt by something, it becomes a number. but we're moved to act when we read the story of the one child who's rescued under the rubble after three days. and that's the magic that he was leaveing us with. that in our lives exist essentially a story and the magic of the news media is to capture that story to humanize it and to give it to us. and that's why the world grew to be the most powerful newspaper in america where governors in the state of oregon would write all the way to new york and say would you endorse me. i bet you today that no governor the oregon is writing to the

"new york times," would you endorse me? so what i enjoyed about my five-year journey, it was like being an archaeologist. i was uncovering the world forgetten. "the world" paper is gone. pull littier -- pulitzer is remembered as a prize. no one can remember what he did. that's the joy i've had in the writing and answering questions from readers. i have time. ten minutes to answer questions. there are mics on each side. i'll try not to take six months to come up with the appropriate answer. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. >> what was pulitzer's connection to drama, theater, and the other prizes that have his name? >> what was the connection of pulitzer, drama, theater, and

other things? personal. one of which you know 1898, he engaged in randolph hearst, and he feels stained by that. all of the major achievement are forever linked to this awful people. much like certain presidents who might have been in the office for eight years always remembered for one little moment. and they would forget the rest. pulitzer created the pulitzer prize in part to cleanse his representation. and secondly, about his belief in journalism had changed. the reason they were prizes for drama and history and music is a personal reflection of his love of those things. when he falls blind, he had readers who travel with him, who read him novels, he had a personal pianist. he thoughts this was parts of

the civil society to have and the reward. back to the major prize. pulitzer got into journalism because he wanted political power. journalism was the other side of the coin. they were two sides of the same coin in the 19th century. as he became a publisher and worked in journalism, he became to under it was a far more important craft than the personal around political power. the most important prize, it may sound quaint, is the pulitzer prize for public service. at the heart of it, it's an important part of the american democratic process. that's part of the season for -- reason for the prize. this side? >> you kind of responded to my question. maybe you could expand on it. :

pulitzer did that times when the paper was losing money. he will emphasize the enterprise. and the problem of corporate media family-owned or not on, news is a terrifically expensive enterprise. to take an educated soul and