george saunders is here. his recent short story collection "tenth of december" received a national book award nomination. and awarded story prize and folio prize. last year he gave the convocation address at syracuse university. his message was both simple and powerful-- try to be kind to others. three months later, the "new york times" posted a transcript of the speech online. within days, it had been shared more than one million times. speech is now the book "congratulations, by the way: some thoughts of kindness." i am pleased to have george saunders back at this table. welcome. what am i having in here that's different from reading the speech or hearing the speech? >> originally, i had written a 20-minute speech thinking that was the length, and about two days before i was going to give it i called and they said, no, eight minutes. i just put in some of the cuts of course basically. it's very stlar to the speech itself. the speech, it was kind of surprising. i didn't expect it to really go beyond that day

george saunders comes in with "congratulations, by the way," and seventh is mariannaly varian cra's to "the closer." robin roberts at eighth with her memoir, "everybody's got something," and ninth is "david and goliath." malcolm gladwell's talk can be viewed on our web site. and matching up the best sellers list at ten is requested finding me," by ariel castro's kidnap victim, michele knight. for more information, visit npr.org. >> lauren is next on booktv of. she talks about the many political causes taken up by upton sinclair over his life including his unsuccessful run for governor of california in 1934. this is just over an hour. >> thanks. so i'm really happy for this event tonight. we've been thinking about it for the whole season. it's one of the many aspects of our talk series as we cover a lot of different topics, and some of them are more contemporaneous, we'll have a artist talk about their art related to their political views, or we'll do stuff on local ecological history or present as the case may be. we did one on urban agriculture versus open spaces in nature, and so ton

george saunders comes in sixth with "congratulations, by the way," and seventh on the list is mariano rivera's memoir, "the closer." good morning america anchor robin roberts at eight with her memoir, "everybody's got something." and ninth is new yorker writer malcolm gladwell's "david and goliath." his talk on the book from the free library of philadelphia can be viewed on our web site. and wrapping up national public radio's bestsellers list at ten is "finding me: a decade of darkness, a life reclaimed," by ariel castro's kidnap victim, michele knight. for more information visit npr.org. >> booktv asked, what are you reading this summer? >> one of the books that i've just started that i'll be finishing over the next few weeks is "the big burn" by timothy egan. and he walks through some of the history of the creation of the national forests. it's always good to know your history when you're on a committee like energy and natural resources, and great stories of teddy roosevelt and the big fire of 1910. and, hopefully, some lessons that we can apply even today. >> anything else on your

george saunders of syracuse. >> recent speech, right? >> they just turned it into a good.that speech is kindness -- >> we've got sound from that speech. take a listen to george saunders in 2013. >> most of my life of failures of kindness, those moments when another human being was right there in front of me suffering and i responded sensibly. reservedly. >> what's stands out from the pack with that speech? >> he tells the story, it's a little hard to hear of his regrets and says -- goes through a series of things people would normally regret, i don't regret any of those things but regrets when he was in elementary school a girl came into the school, middle of the year, the other kids were mean to her. george him self was not mean to her but did not come to her assistance. and she left shortly there after and that stayed with him all of these years. he could have been a nicer person and life is short, you might as well be nice. >> it's a strong message and one you don't hear in all messages. >> you're a presidential historian. what's your favorite presidential commencement

. >> as "new york times" best selling author george saunders graduation address did. hitting a nerve with many, going viral. it's now the subject of his latest book, congratulations by the way, helping kindness make a come back. >> idea of being kind, comparing it to other speeches much tends to focus on this competitive world. >> why do you think your concept stood out? >> certain virtues like kindness, somehow have a down grade to soft virtues you know? you can be kind after you've won. i think that is kind of wrong. >> the girl whose name you changed, her name is ellen. >> mostly ignored. occasionally teased >> you talk about you weren't a mean guy can you bu could have been nicer to her. . >> i regret are failures of kindness. when another human being was in front of me suffering and i responded sensibly. reservedly. mildly. >> saunders credits kindness in helping him launch his writing career. >> an aunt just let me live with them for a year. wrote there, wrote 6, 7 hours per day. i came out with a book. >> just goes to show anyone can be kind >> in a time where

. >> congratulations to george saunders, some thoughts on kindness which we all could do a bit with.ou next time. ♪ >> live from pier 3 in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west," where we cover innovation, technology, and the future of business. i'm emily chang. apple senior vice president says this is product pipeline is the best he's ever seen. he did not elaborate at the code conference but under pressure to deliver its next blockbuster product, announcing buying beats yesterday with cofounders jimmy iovine and dr. dre. google is giving information after 700,000 miles of

. >> congratulations to george saunders, some thoughts on kindness which we all could do a bit with.you next time. ♪ . >> this is "taking stock" for may 29, 2014. i am pimm fox. it is thursday. we have something up our sleeves. waste td phil great. was the winter weather? costco, the nation's largest

other offers include malcolm glad well, awful, tony morrison, george saunders and an 8-year-old withosed the original pieces meant to give customers something read and to think about. why does it bother you when somebody is having a conversation on a cell phone? what would you tell your father if it was possible? there was a slight oversight as a a writer for the orange county weekly pointed out. chipotle didn't include latino writers in this endeavor. >> if they did they would have been accused of racial insensitivity. >> i am with her 100%. if you had mexican authors or latin american authors they bo have said -- they would have said they were hit harder than a pinata full of truth. >> i don't know about that. >> where can i find that pinata. >> totally offended that it is awful mexican food. as far as those fast choices are, and i think it is quality stuff, pretty fresh and even the design of the place is like clean, simple, have you ever seen bloomburg with a big documentary with the boom of chipotle. it is fascinating. the company is one of the fastest growing companies. >> the

. >> coming up, george saunders, the winner of literary awards and "time" magazine's man of the yearlzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses. if you have a business idea, we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase i make a lot of purchases for my business. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire. so you can make owning business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust on how to take care of me and my baby. luckily, unitedhealthcare has a simple program that helps moms sta

. >> reporter: as "new york times" best-selling author george saunders' graduation address from a yearongratulations, by the way," and it's helping kindness make a comeback. the idea of being kind and comparing it to other commencement speeches and so much of that tends to focus on this competitive world these graduates are entering. why do you think your concept sort of stood out from that? >> certain virtues like kindness, like gentleness, compassion somehow got a downgrade to soft virtues, you know optional virtues. yeah, you can be kind after you've won, and i think that's kind of wrong. >> seventh grade this new kid joined our class. >> reporter: the girl whose name you changed for anonymity sake. and her name is he will london in your speech. >> was mostly ignored, occasionally teased. >> reporter: and you talk about how you weren't a mean guy but you could have been nicer to her. >> what i regret most in my life are failures of kindness. >> reporter: saunders who has penned eight books and credits kindness in launching his >> i had an aunt of mine who let me live with them for a