Podcasting with John Metaxas

Center Makes Fundraising Push in Face of CUNY Budget Cuts In this second episode of the Podcast of the Center for Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies at Queens College CUNY, I speak with the College's President, Frank Wu, who has emerged as an important ally for the Center as it deals with a cut-off of funding from CUNY. Earlier in 2023 all independent centers at CUNY had to certify that they were capable of self funding. This has provided a challenge to the Center as it prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a fundraising gala in Queens on May 17, 2024. The Byzantine and Modern Greek Center is the brainchild of the late Professor Harry Psomiades, who left a tenured position in the history department at Columbia University to come to Queens in 1974. Since then, the Center has been arguably the largest Hellenic studies program in the country with more than 20,000 students enrolled over the decades. Over its 50-year history the Center has gotten substantial support from the Greek-American community, which has funded the dozens of scholarships that help its primarily middle class students cover the cost of their educations. In addition, it received substantial support from various Hellenic and Hellenic-American foundations, one of which helped endow a professorship in Byzantine studies. But as a recent article in Kathimerini, Greece's leading newspaper, pointed out, Hellenic studies programs around the world are suffering from decreased funding from their host universities, in part because of an emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) over the liberal arts (though this does not appear to be the motivation at CUNY). In a wide ranging conversation, Wu, a lawyer and legal scholar who has written books on race relations, recounts his upbringing as the child of immigrants from Taiwan and makes connections with the experiences of his diverse student body at Queens, which speaks more than 100 languages. He outlines his vision for a diaspora center at Queens and the vital role the Byzantine & Modern Greek Center plays in the College's mosaic. And he pledges his support for the Center and expresses his eagerness to work with the Greek-American community to help fund it for the future. Says Wu, “It's so important that we have a program that looks at and helps to empower the Greek diaspora.” I have served on the Center's advisory council for three decades, a position in which I followed my father, the late Takis J. Metaxas, a founding member of the council in the early years with Professor Psomiades. I have been able to watch all the successes and challenges the Center has experienced. It is comforting to know that as it faces the future, the Center for Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies has College President Frank Wu in its corner.

As Greece works to recover from the devastating financial crisis of the last decade, one of its most vital tasks is to bring talented individuals back into the country to work and create opportunity for others. In this podcast I speak with Dr. George Nounesis, the director and chairman of Demokritos, Greece's National Centre for Scientific Research. Nounesis, who is an award winning scientist, says he is on a mission to create opportunities for Greek scientists who are living and working abroad to bring their world class research back to Greece. One of the young scientists who has heeded the call to return to Greece is Filippos Tourlomousis. Working with M.I.T.'s Center for Bits and Atoms — an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science (where he had done his post-doctoral work) — Tourlomousis is setting up at Demokritos the first labs in Greece for digital manufacturing.  You can watch my video interview with Tourlomousis on my website at: https://www.wallstreetnorth.com/2023/03/reversing-greeces-brain-drain/

This inaugural episode of the Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies Podcast from Queens College (CUNY) features Professor Gerasimus Katsan, director of the College's Center for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, and its assistant director, Professor Maria Athanasopoulou. They speak in both English and Greek with John Metaxas about the Modern Greek language, what it takes to learn it, how students are different today, and how teaching Modern Greek is different today from the time of the Katharevousa, the conservative form of the language taught until the 1970s. They also offer information on Queens College's senior auditing program, which allows senior citizens to sit in on classes, including online classes.

On November 4, 2022, I finished an 18-year run as an anchor and reporter at WCBS Newsradio. You can read more about my time at WCBS at: https://www.wallstreetnorth.com/2022/11/my-last-day-at-wcbs/ I am pleased to present here one of the highlights of my years with WCBS -- the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award winning Best Newscast from The Radio Television Digital News Association in Region 11 (New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). I was privileged to co-anchor this newscast, which was a true team effort. Looking back on this broadcast from March 3, 2020, it's clear that we've come a long way since then. That day we reported on New York's second confirmed case of coronavirus, in a lawyer from New Rochelle, NY. We reported that his family was self-quarantining, a new concept to all of us at that time. The U.S. death toll from the virus stood at 9 people. Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that a coronavirus vaccine would be months away. The Dow would fall 786 points that day as the Fed cut interest rates 50 basis points to help the economy in the looming health crisis. More than 1,300 Democratic delegates were at stake on that Super Tuesday, which would be the day that Joe Biden scored dramatic primary victories on his way to the presidential nomination.

Nearly six in ten Americans say the U.S. Supreme Court is out of touch with the country, according to the latest poll by Monmouth University. That opinion has crystallized in the months since the Court took away a woman's constitutional right to an abortion in its June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. On the Friday that Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the newest justice and as the Court was preparing to start its new term on the first Monday in October, Monmouth University released its poll results. I interviewed Patrick Murray, Director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute on WCBS, about the poll.

Three days before Eric Adams was elected Mayor of New York, I had the opportunity to interview him live on WCBS during my news broadcast. In a few minutes here, he outlines his vision for the city in the coming years.

Six months into the COVID crisis, our work continues, much of it from home. We've continued to produce The Sidley Podcast, with all remote production since March, as well as our work for other clients. My reporting and anchoring continued through the summer for Bloomberg and WCBS. Yesterday, WCBS asked me to cover the Presidential Debate from the station's studios, where we maintain a severely limited in-person staff and a strict COVID protocol. I was tasked with reporting, writing and producing four 90-second reports for morning drive time. Each covers a different substantive slice of the debate and aired in a four-part rotation every half hour throughout the morning, in combination with CBS Network coverage and guests who gave their perspective on the debate. You can listen on my website -- WallStreetNorth.com -- or by subscribing to "Podcasting with John Metaxas" on Apple Podcasts. Wishing you all well. Stay safe! John Metaxas WallStreetNorth.com

Six months into the COVID crisis, our work continues, much of it from home. We've continued to produce The Sidley Podcast, with all remote production since March, as well as our work for other clients. My reporting and anchoring continued through the summer for Bloomberg and WCBS. Yesterday, WCBS asked me to cover the Presidential Debate from the station's studios, where we maintain a severely limited in-person staff and a strict COVID protocol. I was tasked with reporting, writing and producing four 90-second reports for morning drive time. Each covers a different substantive slice of the debate and aired in a four-part rotation every half hour throughout the morning, in combination with CBS Network coverage and guests who gave their perspective on the debate. You can listen on my website -- WallStreetNorth.com -- or by subscribing to "Podcasting with John Metaxas" on Apple Podcasts. Wishing you all well. Stay safe! John Metaxas WallStreetNorth.com

Six months into the COVID crisis, our work continues, much of it from home. We've continued to produce The Sidley Podcast, with all remote production since March, as well as our work for other clients. My reporting and anchoring continued through the summer for Bloomberg and WCBS. Yesterday, WCBS asked me to cover the Presidential Debate from the station's studios, where we maintain a severely limited in-person staff and a strict COVID protocol. I was tasked with reporting, writing and producing four 90-second reports for morning drive time. Each covers a different substantive slice of the debate and aired in a four-part rotation every half hour throughout the morning, in combination with CBS Network coverage and guests who gave their perspective on the debate. You can listen on my website -- WallStreetNorth.com -- or by subscribing to "Podcasting with John Metaxas" on Apple Podcasts. Wishing you all well. Stay safe! John Metaxas WallStreetNorth.com

Six months into the COVID crisis, our work continues, much of it from home. We've continued to produce The Sidley Podcast, with all remote production since March, as well as our work for other clients. My reporting and anchoring continued through the summer for Bloomberg and WCBS. Yesterday, WCBS asked me to cover the Presidential Debate from the station's studios, where we maintain a severely limited in-person staff and a strict COVID protocol. I was tasked with reporting, writing and producing four 90-second reports for morning drive time. Each covers a different substantive slice of the debate and aired in a four-part rotation every half hour throughout the morning, in combination with CBS Network coverage and guests who gave their perspective on the debate. You can listen on my website -- WallStreetNorth.com -- or by subscribing to "Podcasting with John Metaxas" on Apple Podcasts. Wishing you all well. Stay safe! John Metaxas WallStreetNorth.com

My talk with U.S. Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, June 18, 2020, regarding Greece's successful response to the COVID pandemic. Ambassador says response was guided by scientific advice. Such U.S. companies as Microsoft, Google and Cisco aided with technology. Silver lining of effort was the progress Greece made in digital governance. The interview is an excerpt from the NHSTalks presentation by the National Hellenic Society: CONTROLLING COVID-19 & TOBACCO CHALLENGES IN GREECE. The program also included Dr. Vasileios Kikilias, Minister, Greek Health Ministry, and noted Pulmonologist Dr. Panagiotis Behrakis.

As the Michael Flynn legal drama comes to its denouement, the media narrative has focused on his guilty plea to lying about conversations with the Russian ambassador and the Justice Department’s late decision to seek to drop charges against Flynn. But Flynn’s other foreign entanglement, with Turkey, may be even more significant to U.S. security, foreign policy and democracy. In a wide ranging interview, John Metaxas speaks with Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University about Flynn’s admitted lobbying for Turkey, his advocacy for the extradition of a Turkish cleric living under political asylum in the United States, and Turkey’s role as a destabilizing force within NATO. Topics covered: 1:05 Why is the Flynn/Turkey connection so important? 2:20 What does this connection tell us about U.S. democracy? 4:36 Who is Fetullah Gulen? 6:56 Tell us about Gulenist schools opened around the world and in the United States. 9:30 What’s happening to many of those Gulenist schools around the world since the falling out between Erdogan and Gulen? 11:44 What are students learning at Gulenist schools in the United States? 13:34 Compare your nuanced description of Gulen with Flynn’s more one-sided portrayal in his op-ed in The Hill. 15:29 Would there be any justification in extraditing Gulen, as Flynn advocated? 17:00 Will we ever know whether Gulen was involved in the coup attempt against the Turkish government, as Erdogan alleges? And will we ever know where Gulen gets his funding? 19:00 Why is Turkey and what’s happening there important to the United States from a geopolitical point of view? 22:45 What is the status of Turkish forces that have encamped on Greek territory along the Evros River? 25:00 What are the implications of Turkish deployment of Russian S-400 missiles for U.S. nuclear weapons located at the Incirlik air base in Turkey? 26:52 President Trump has said he has a conflict of interest because he has a major building in Istanbul. He was willing to appoint Flynn as National Security Advisor despite his ties with the Turkish government. And he effectively gave Erdogan the “green light” to invade northern Syria in a phone conversation. What role does the Trump Administration play in all of this? 30:33 Discuss any apparent “carte blanche” given to Turkey in the light of the beating of U.S. citizens in Washington D.C. by Erdogan’s security detail. 32:24 What do Turkey’s soft power probings into the United States tell us about what’s happening to American democracy? 37:24 What is the status of the re-democratization movement within Turkey? 40:27 Why has Flynn’s Turkey connection not been central to the media narrative in the United States? Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou is a faculty member at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she directs the Initiative on Religion, Law, and Diplomacy. She is non-resident Senior Fellow and Co-Chair of the Working Group on Christians and Religious Pluralism in the Middle East, at the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, and was non-resident Senior Fellow in National Security and the Middle East, at the Center for American Progress. She is a Co-President of Religions for Peace International. Prodromou served as Vice Chair and Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (2004-2012) and was a member of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Religion & Foreign Policy Working Group (2011-2015). Her research interests focus on geopolitics and religion, with particular focus on the Middle East and Southeastern Europe. John Metaxas is an award-winning broadcast journalist for WCBS and Bloomberg Radio and previously anchored and reported for CNN, CNBC and WCBS-TV. John is an attorney and graduate of Columbia Law and Journalism. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and serves on the union’s national broadcast steering committee. He podcasts on Apple and at JohnMetaxas.com.

Meet the Candidates for NYS Assembly 93rd District: Moderated by John Metaxas -- Wednesday April 29, 2020. Listen here or watch the video at: https://www.wallstreetnorth.com/2020/05/meet-the-candidates-moderated-by-john-metaxas/

My interview with Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal on WCBS, Sunday March 8, 2020.

▪ Harvard Law Prof Waffles on Scope of His Role ▪ Asserts ‘I’m not a full-fledged member’ of impeachment defense team ▪ Claims Sekulow is not conflicted by Parnas Allegations ▪ Dershowitz arguably should be considered an expert witness in this case and Dems should get a rebuttal witness. ▪ Sekulow should be called to testify on Parnas representation. When is a lawyer an advocate and when is he or she a witness? And if a lawyer is a witness, should he or she be allowed to represent their client in that case? More specifically, if Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican majority are not going to allow witnesses at the impeachment trial of President Trump, should two of the President’s lawyers, who arguably fall into the category of witnesses, be allowed to represent him? Those issues are central to the live on-air interview I conducted with Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz about his role on President Trump’s impeachment defense team in my 2pm hourly newscast on WCBS Newsradio 880 on Saturday.

American Hellenic Institute PODCAST #2: AHI board member James Marketos, Esq., recounts a genocide taunt by Turkish soccer fans this year and speaks on the importance of remembering the Smyrna Catastrophe of 1922 and the need to hold Turkey to account for the destruction of the Christian population of the city. Marketos’s remarks, which served as an introduction to a talk by Georgetown Professor Ismini Lamb in Washington, D.C. on October 4, 2019, are juxtaposed to the audio from a production by republicofplato.org, “The Destruction of Smyrna.” Lamb delivered her talk on “Correcting Three Misconceptions about the 1922 Catastrophe in Smyrna” to a packed house at AHI’s headquarters in Washington.

November 15, 2019: Columbia Law Prof. John Coffee interviews SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson about the latest issues of corporate law that the Commission is considering. Commissioner Jackson recently dissented in a partisan 3-2 vote regarding proposed proxy solicitation rules that he says will make it easier for CEOs to spend shareholder money. The Commissioner makes a compelling case for the SEC's role in protecting investors. Among the other topics Professor Coffee brings up are new practices in short selling, the failure of the WeWork IPO, and whether the Commission has the right to seek disgorgement for violations of SEC regulations. This interview was conducted at Columbia Law School for the podcast of the Blue Sky Blog, http://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu, an offering of the law school's Center on Corporate Governance, which Professor Coffee leads. Ren Holding, the Blog's editor, introduces the podcast. The podcast was produced by John Metaxas of WallStreetNorth Communications, Inc., https://wallstreetnorth.com. John is an alumnus of Columbia Law.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tells John Metaxas that Greece’s Brain Drain Can be Reversed. The prime minister answered the question during a public conversation he had at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, moderated by former Ambassador Nicholas Burns, on September 26, 2019.

Economist Dr. Carl Weinberg of High Frequency Economics says “Money has died.” He talks about the effects of negative interest rates in Europe. This is an excerpt from his talk at an economics briefing held by the Summit, N.J. law firm Brown Moskowitz & Kallen for their clients on September 23, 2019.

Retired U.S. Ambassador Dr. Susan Elliott tells us that back channel diplomacy is currently going on in ways unimagined by most citizens, through her organization, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. She became the organization’s President and CEO in August 2018. Officially known as Track II Diplomacy, these closed­-door and off­-the­-record conferences provide opportunities for senior U.S. and foreign officials, subject experts, and scholars to engage in discussions designed to defuse conflict, build confidence, and resolve problems, including recent talks on North Korea. Says Ambassador Elliott, “Our organization is playing a critical role at a time when perhaps governments don’t talk to each other, we can help promote dialogue.” Ambassador Elliott gives us an inside look into the world of U.S. foreign policy and the current hot spots in the world from the perspective of her 27-year career in the foreign service, where she rose to the rank of U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan from 2012 to 2015. Dr Elliott also served as Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of the United States European Command, as well as Director of the Executive Secretariat Staff of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Retired U.S. Ambassador Patrick Theros discusses the Israeli High Court decision in favor of an extremist group that seeks the removal of Christians from the Old City of Jerusalem and the existential risks for the Christian community that the ruling poses. At issue in the real estate case, brought by the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, are properties that straddle the Jaffa Gate into the Old City.

New Yorkers measure their lives by blackouts. I experienced my fourth* on Saturday July 13th, anchoring live coverage of the West Side Blackout on WCBS Newsradio 880. The evening brought me back to the 1965 blackout when I was 7 growing up in Manhattan, the 1977 blackout as a college student at Columbia during the Summer of Sam and the 2003 blackout covering at CNBC from Fort Lee, NJ. My live interview on the air with N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo the next evening was picked up by the New York Post with the memorable headline “Gov hints at Gone Edison.” Cuomo told me “Con Ed does not have a franchise granted by God” and “can be replaced,” adding Con Ed should not be allowed a self-evaluation of its performance in the blackout. Click below to listen. Notes: This year's blackout happened on the 42nd anniversary of the July 13, 1977 blackout. *Arguably, this was my 5th blackout if you count the massive outage in lower Manhattan after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which I also covered live on the air on WCBS.

•Turkey Faces April Deadline to Respond in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia •Ankara Foreign Ministry Finally Served After Rebuffing Service Three Times ◊PODCAST COLD OPEN VERBATIM: You had a trained paramilitary force attack peaceful protesters. The people who were protecting President Erdogan came across police lines and beat up our clients, hit them on the head, kicked them, got them on the ground and bloodied them. This is not only an effort to gain compensation for people who were physically and psychologically injured, but also a way to make a statement that this kind of activity, of thugs beating up demonstrators, will not be something that we can allow in our country. Click the audio player below to listen. "Podcasting with John Metaxas" speaks with attorneys Douglas Bregman and Andreas Akaras of Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, LLC, at their offices in Bethesda, Maryland. They have filed a civil lawsuit against the Republic of Turkey seeking damages on behalf of their clients who were beaten by members of the security detail of Turkish President Erdogan while the plaintiffs were exercising their First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and express freedom of speech at Washington, D.C.'s Sheridan Circle on May 16, 2017.

John Metaxas speaks with Paul Glastris, editor in chief of the Washington Monthly, along with two of the publication’s editors, Daniel Block and Eric Cortellessa, about their quest to elevate journalism in this stressful time. Labelling his point of view, “grumpily liberal,” Paul says the Washington Monthly, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, remains devoted to the ethos of its founder, Charles Peters — to report, uncover, explain and offer new ideas about government policy and politics in America, all while treating the reader and people with different points of view with respect. Recent stories have looked at what the editors see as an underreported but major development in society — that large numbers of Americans are not benefiting from America’s economic system. While Paul says his magazine is contributing to the broader effort by journalists to understand and in many ways fight against the nonsense and lying coming out of the White House, he is not obsessed with Trump coverage. Rather, he says, “We’re focused on the future. We’re focused on issues like antitrust, like reforming the higher education system, like Congress rebuilding its capacity to think and do oversight, reforms that aren’t getting enough attention and we think are the most important things the American people should be discussing.”

John Metaxas speaks with Michael Rosenblum, the self-proclaimed "Father of Videojournalism" who has trained more than 40,000 VJs and built VJ-driven networks worldwide. In a wide-ranging talk on the history of media, Michael recounts his career, from his time living with and covering a Palestinian family in Gaza during the First Intifada to his current quest to use modern media for the common good.

Podcaster John Metaxas interviews veteran civil rights attorney Robert Herbst about his journey from growing up in a liberal Jewish household to becoming an advocate for Palestinian rights. Bob says just as “Black Lives Matter in the U.S., Palestinian lives matter in Israel/Palestine.” He says his viewpoint changed significantly after what he calls Israel’s brutal 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. He became a member of the organization Jewish Voice for Peace. He describes the Israeli occupation of the West Bank as persistent and relentless oppression, which he likens to apartheid. He says he supports the Boycott Divest Sanction movement as a non-violent means to help Israel recover its Jewish values.

BREAKING NEWS: David Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace Building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights speaks with John Metaxas on today’s latest threats by Turkish President Erdogan to invade eastern regions of Syria. The threat puts at risk U.S. forces who are maintaining bases in the region in alliance with Kurdish forces engaged in the fight against the Islamic State. Phillips calls for the U.S. to institute a no-fly zone over northern Syria to signal to Turkey that it will not tolerate efforts of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Kurds, though he says he has doubts the Trump Administration is up to the task. Phillips, who has just returned from a visit to Kurdish inhabited regions of Syria, recounts compelling stories of Kurds trying to maintain their freedoms in the face of Turkish bombardment.

Professor John Coffee of Columbia Law School speaks with WallStreetNorth's John Metaxas (Columbia Law '84)about the state of insider trading law. Professor Coffee has been asked to join a task force to develop proposals to update this area of the law. The task force is to be chaired by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (Columbia Law '93). Professor Coffee explains that insider trading law is largely judicially created and has not been addressed by Congress. Recent Circuit Court decisions have created divergences among the Circuits that have not yet been addressed by the Supreme Court. Furthermore, new issues surrounding hacking and cybersecurity have emerged. The professor says the time is ripe for this blue-ribbon panel to create some standards that can be presented to Congress and/or the SEC for future adoption. Bharara has tapped former regulators, prosecutors, judges, academics and defense lawyers to serve on the panel, including The Hon. Jed S. Rakoff, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York, and adjunct professor at Columbia Law School. Coffee and Rakoff co-teach a popular class, Black Letter Law/White Collar Crime. John Metaxas is an award winning broadcast journalist with three decades of experience at CBS, CNN, Bloomberg and other networks. His podcasts on the law can be listened to at WallStreetNorth.com.

Award winning journalist John Metaxas speaks on "The Life of a Journalist and the Obligations of a Citizen in the Time of Trump." John touches on his time covering Trump at ABC News and CBS, the saga of Marvin Roffman, the importance of truth, his studies with Fred Friendly, the lessons he teaches his college students who ask about whether the news is fake and offers some thoughts on resistance. A lively Q&A follows. The talk was delivered at the Beacon Hebrew Alliance in Beacon, NY, on August 11, 2018, the weekend anniversary of the deadly march on Charlottesville.

Attorney John Bandler wrote Cybersecurity for the Home and Office to help lawyers and in fact anyone take charge of their cybersecurity. The book provides a solid understanding of cybercrime, privacy threats, cybersecurity and computer technology. He speaks here with WallStreetNorth's John Metaxas as part of the series Podcasting for Lawyers.

Hughes Hubbard partner George Tsougarakis tells John Metaxas the fascinating story of his firm's recovery of a 9th Century handwritten copy of the New Testament that was looted from a monastery in northern Greece by Bulgarian soldiers during World War I and went missing for 99 years. But despite the Bible's return, the case is not over.

John Metaxas interviews author Tasoula Hadjitofi about her book, The Icon Hunter, and her quest as a refugee to reclaim her nation’s stolen heritage