. >> we've been talking about with susan weinberg. :

susan weinberg where should we start? >> hi peter, thank you.is always a great to see that look expo. we can start with a book coming out now called the philanthropy of george soros building open societies. this is a book about george soros' working giving away billions and billions of dollars through his open society foundation which is based on his principles and putting his philosophy to work in the real world. he covers his programs from around the world and includes an essay from george called my philanthropy, where he lays out his principles and what animates his giving. it just really turned out to be he's major business. >> right next to this susan is poor economics. >> poor economics is one of the most exciting big idea books we have had any while. day are the founders of the m.i.t. property lab and they have really pioneered the idea of, let's do some on the groundwork, experiment, observations to learn what really works and development. where we should put our effort, where we should put our money and they are award-winning, acclaimed

susan weinberg, where should we start? >> hi, peter. it's always great to see you.t with a book coming out now called the philanthropy of george cyrus: building open societies. this is a book about george thyrsus gratuities given away billions and billions of dollars to his open society foundation, which is based on its principles and putting his philosophy to work in the real world. he covered programs from around the world and includes an essay called my philanthropy where he lays out his principles and what animates his giving. it's really turned out to be as major business. >> right next to that susan is poor economics. >> poor economics is one of the most exciting big idea books we've had in a while. i machine and asked her are the founder of the mit poverty lounge and they have really pioneered the idea of let's do some on the groundwork experiments, observation to learn what really works to development, where we should put our efforts, where we should our money. and they are award-winning, claimed economists whose work work is really getting a lot of attentio

. >> susan weinberg, the photo on the cover is rather powerful. >> he is. we were looking for something to convey the mix of emotions when you think about haiti and the earthquake and you think about the recovery. it is such a mixture of hope and maybe dispair of, you know, grand plans, but also understanding that everyone is so vulnerable. >> we are talking with susan weinberg, who's a publicker of public awares books and over here on your board, i want to talk about sally jacobs new book "the other barack" when is this coming out? >> "the other barack" is coming out in july this year. this is a book as the subtitle couldn't say it better. the bold and reckless life of his father. she said when she -- she did a profile of, you know, obama and kenya, but all through the phone. not really the deep enough. she said if he's elected, i'm going to go and pursue the story. she had never done a book, or a story she felt that committed to. but she has been to kenya many times, talked to everyone that knew barack obama senior and she has put the story and rivetting

. >> we been talking to susan weinberg, publisher of public affairs books, one of the perseus group's imprints, public affairs books.com is the web site. a. >> up next on booktv, after words an hour-long program where we invite guest hosts to interview authors. this week author michael totten on his first book, subor the beirut spring, the rise of hezbollah, and the iranian war against israel. the freelance foreign correspondent whose work has appeared in "the new york times" and "the jerusalem post" presents a first-hand account of hostilities on the ground from the revolution against the serious revolutionary in 2005 tesla's conflict with israel and the elected leaders of lebanon. he discusses hezbollah's history in the future with former u.s. ambassador to syria, richard murphy. >> host: you got to lebanon again this was the first time just after the assassination in 2005. >> guest: that's right, he had just been assassinated and on march 1402005, more than a million people took to the streets all of the same time in a country of only 4 million demanded the immediate evacuation of

. >> we've been talking with susan weinberg, publisher of public affairs books. public affairs books.com is the web site. >> so, matt, here's my question. the book is written in a breezy, popular style, and it has sort of a breezy optimism to it. you write at one point, and i'm quoting here, the innovative capitalist culture will allow us to make a houdini-style escape from climate change's most devastating impacts. what makes you so sure of that? >> my mother always told me to avoid wishful thinking, and i, and i always try to be provocative to see if folks are awake. i take climate change very seriously, and now that my two minutes is up -- [laughter] i love good jokes. folks, i take climate change very seriously. and my optimism is really, the core of my optimism and i don't want you to walk away thinking i'm a naive optimist, is that when we anticipate a challenge, that our minds in a world of seven billion people, perhaps nine billion people, if enough of us are scared and aware of the challenge that climate change poses, the beginnings of addressing doom he

. >> we've been talking about with susan weinberg. : >> i'm going to introduce my panelists, and somebody give me a sign when he have 15 minutes for question and answer. and what's our time frame here? an hour total. so, at about 4:00 5 we'll break for questions -- 4:15, we'll break for questions. so if you hold for them the end, if we have a lot of people dying to speak, we'll start earlier to my far right is my friend, bob weil, the executive editor for norton. he works with annett gordon reid, jg ballard and patricia high something, and hey has been in publishing in one form or another since we both got out of college many decades ago. to my immediate right is johnny temple, a small publisher in brooklyn, new york. the publish urban literary fission -- fiction and political nonfiction. immediately to my left is kim robinson, who is the regional director of the university of california press -- regional publisher, formerly at oxford university press. she has been a music editor and a head of reference, which is interesting, because she is the one person on the panel who has worked in re