Monday, January 07, 2008
Larry Summers Goes Online
The Times reports today that Larry Summers has invested in a new video-centric website called Big Think, ostensibly a "YouTube for ideas.".
Big Think mixes interviews with public intellectuals from a variety of fields, from politics, to law to business, and allows users to engage in debates on issues like global warming and the two-party system.
[Calling all editors: Spot the grammatical error in that sentence.]
The site was started by Harvard alums Peter Hopkins and Victoria Brown, both former bookers on the Charlie Rose Show. (For some reason, the Times doesn't mention that Brown is a graduate of HBS. Relevant, one would think.)
The Times reports that Hopkins finagled a meeting with Summers by convincing his assistant to put him on the schedule, and that after a year, Summers ponied up a five-figure sum.
“I’ve had the general view that there is a hunger for people my age looking for more intellectual content,” said Mr. Summers, who resigned as Harvard president in 2006 after making controversial comments about the lack of women in science and engineering. “I saw it as president of Harvard when I saw C.E.O.’s come up to my wife and want to discuss Hawthorne.” (His wife, Elisa New, is a professor of English at Harvard).
Sounds like an interesting site, and I wish it well. But I also wish that the Times, which has rhapsodized about Larry Summers for years now, would adopt a little more skepticism when it comes to Summers' doings.
For example:
1) Does a five-figure investment really justify putting Summers front and center in the story? Wouldn't it be nice to know, as Times reporter Tim Arango does not appear to, what the total capitalization of the site is?
The press release cites some other interesting people:
The value of Big Think as an emerging media property is reflected by a
formidable group of financial backers who share the founders' vision for
raising the quality of media by bringing great minds to a broad, global
audience. These include Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook and Clarium Capital),
Larry Summers (Former Secretary of the Treasury, Former President of
Harvard), Tom Scott (Nantucket Nectars and Plum TV), and Gary David
Goldberg (creator of Family Ties and Spin City). David Frankel, South
African venture capitalist, is lead investor.
It's fascinating, by the way, to see how the Times pretty much inserts that entire paragraph, not-quite-verbatim, into its story:
A handful of other deep-pocketed investors also decided to chip in, including Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, the online payments site; Tom Scott, who struck it rich by founding, and selling, the juice company Nantucket Nectars and now owns Plum TV, a collection of local television stations in wealthy playgrounds like Aspen, Martha’s Vineyard and the Hamptons; the television producer Gary David Goldberg, who was behind the hit shows “Spin City” and “Family Ties”; and David Frankel, a venture capitalist who was the lead investor in Big Think.
2) I'm sure that many people Larry Summers' age are looking for intellectual content. Are they really looking for it on the web? Be honest: Would you watch a five-minute interview with Pete Petersen? Or John McCain on the question, "Is ethanol overhyped?"
3) Could Larry Summers please name two of the multiple CEOs who asked his wife about Hawthorne? It's possible, but it seems unlikely.
4) A three-second Google search shows that Hopkins was a "Weissman scholar" at Harvard—he interned at NBC News in London—and apparently met Summers at an event for the scholarship's beneficiaries. Probably worth mentioning.
5) It's also probably worth mentioning that the real relevant connection here is not Harvard, it's the Charlie Rose Show, on which Summers has appeared numerous times.
6) The Times might also have mentioned that Summers was one of the founding contributors to "Open University," the New Republic's academic blog, and something one might consider a forerunner to Think Big. Why is it worth mentioning? Because from all appearances, Open University is a complete dud—the last post there was five days ago—and as far as I can tell, LHS has not written for it once. Seems relevant, right?
7) Isn't it also worth mentioning, as the Times doesn't, that Summers is now a managing director in a hedge fund? Relevant for a guy who's just made an investment in an Internet start-up, no?
So, interesting story, poorly reported. The New York Times, it seems, can not help but dance to whatever tune Larry Summers plays. ¶ 3:53 PM
Big Think mixes interviews with public intellectuals from a variety of fields, from politics, to law to business, and allows users to engage in debates on issues like global warming and the two-party system.
[Calling all editors: Spot the grammatical error in that sentence.]
The site was started by Harvard alums Peter Hopkins and Victoria Brown, both former bookers on the Charlie Rose Show. (For some reason, the Times doesn't mention that Brown is a graduate of HBS. Relevant, one would think.)
The Times reports that Hopkins finagled a meeting with Summers by convincing his assistant to put him on the schedule, and that after a year, Summers ponied up a five-figure sum.
“I’ve had the general view that there is a hunger for people my age looking for more intellectual content,” said Mr. Summers, who resigned as Harvard president in 2006 after making controversial comments about the lack of women in science and engineering. “I saw it as president of Harvard when I saw C.E.O.’s come up to my wife and want to discuss Hawthorne.” (His wife, Elisa New, is a professor of English at Harvard).
Sounds like an interesting site, and I wish it well. But I also wish that the Times, which has rhapsodized about Larry Summers for years now, would adopt a little more skepticism when it comes to Summers' doings.
For example:
1) Does a five-figure investment really justify putting Summers front and center in the story? Wouldn't it be nice to know, as Times reporter Tim Arango does not appear to, what the total capitalization of the site is?
The press release cites some other interesting people:
The value of Big Think as an emerging media property is reflected by a
formidable group of financial backers who share the founders' vision for
raising the quality of media by bringing great minds to a broad, global
audience. These include Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook and Clarium Capital),
Larry Summers (Former Secretary of the Treasury, Former President of
Harvard), Tom Scott (Nantucket Nectars and Plum TV), and Gary David
Goldberg (creator of Family Ties and Spin City). David Frankel, South
African venture capitalist, is lead investor.
It's fascinating, by the way, to see how the Times pretty much inserts that entire paragraph, not-quite-verbatim, into its story:
A handful of other deep-pocketed investors also decided to chip in, including Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, the online payments site; Tom Scott, who struck it rich by founding, and selling, the juice company Nantucket Nectars and now owns Plum TV, a collection of local television stations in wealthy playgrounds like Aspen, Martha’s Vineyard and the Hamptons; the television producer Gary David Goldberg, who was behind the hit shows “Spin City” and “Family Ties”; and David Frankel, a venture capitalist who was the lead investor in Big Think.
2) I'm sure that many people Larry Summers' age are looking for intellectual content. Are they really looking for it on the web? Be honest: Would you watch a five-minute interview with Pete Petersen? Or John McCain on the question, "Is ethanol overhyped?"
3) Could Larry Summers please name two of the multiple CEOs who asked his wife about Hawthorne? It's possible, but it seems unlikely.
4) A three-second Google search shows that Hopkins was a "Weissman scholar" at Harvard—he interned at NBC News in London—and apparently met Summers at an event for the scholarship's beneficiaries. Probably worth mentioning.
5) It's also probably worth mentioning that the real relevant connection here is not Harvard, it's the Charlie Rose Show, on which Summers has appeared numerous times.
6) The Times might also have mentioned that Summers was one of the founding contributors to "Open University," the New Republic's academic blog, and something one might consider a forerunner to Think Big. Why is it worth mentioning? Because from all appearances, Open University is a complete dud—the last post there was five days ago—and as far as I can tell, LHS has not written for it once. Seems relevant, right?
7) Isn't it also worth mentioning, as the Times doesn't, that Summers is now a managing director in a hedge fund? Relevant for a guy who's just made an investment in an Internet start-up, no?
So, interesting story, poorly reported. The New York Times, it seems, can not help but dance to whatever tune Larry Summers plays. ¶ 3:53 PM
Comments:
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Why exactly is point 7 (that LS is a managing director at a hedge fund) relevant, since he is investing his own money?
# posted by 
: January 7, 2008 5:32 PM
: January 7, 2008 5:32 PM
There may be a hunger among people his age for intellectual content, but online? Not among any 40 or 50 somethings I know.
# posted by : January 7, 2008 5:34 PM
: January 7, 2008 5:34 PM
Richard Bradley, what youd your parents, or grandparents, think if they knew you had written this sentence?
"the Times, which has fellated Larry Summers (in print) for years now"
This is beneath you.
"the Times, which has fellated Larry Summers (in print) for years now"
This is beneath you.
# posted by : January 7, 2008 8:28 PM
: January 7, 2008 8:28 PM
You know, I think you're right. I have the flu today, and am also coping with a family tragedy, and I think my illness and my sadness overwhelmed my judgment a bit there. Consider the post edited.
(That said, my family knows that I can be a little over the top sometimes.)
(That said, my family knows that I can be a little over the top sometimes.)
Hope you get better soon. Try ginger tea --boil some bits of ginger root in water and drink the infusion-- it works very well for the flu.
Sorry about the family tragedy. Take some time off, there's no need to feel pressure to write every day.
Sorry about the family tragedy. Take some time off, there's no need to feel pressure to write every day.
# posted by : January 7, 2008 8:53 PM
: January 7, 2008 8:53 PM
Did anyone else notice that the article ended by reporting Peter Hopkins as "invoking John Locke and John Stuart Mill, two enlightenment thinkers..."
Oh, dear, I had thought we educated our undergrads better than that. (Locke's Second Treatise was published in 1690, Mill's "On Liberty" in 1859.)
Oh, dear, I had thought we educated our undergrads better than that. (Locke's Second Treatise was published in 1690, Mill's "On Liberty" in 1859.)
# posted by : January 7, 2008 10:33 PM
: January 7, 2008 10:33 PM
Summers' idea of intellectual content as shown in this venture is one of the (less appreciated) factors that did him in with the faculty. He cared less about scholarship than about public intellectualism, Aspen and Davos style seminars, and high profile op eds. Nothing wrong with those, but when a university leader seems to be more impressed with and more interested in this kind of intellectual content than the core scholarship of the university he is bound to lose the confidence of much of the faculty. Of course that loss was over determined, but his lack of a genuine interest in a lot of the serious research that does not attract attention outside of the relevant scholarly community was a fatal flaw. Among other things, it undermined the credibility of his judgments about tenure decisions.
# posted by : January 7, 2008 10:52 PM
: January 7, 2008 10:52 PM
but I thought LHS problem with the famous university professor who left for Princeton is that that professor was too much of a public intellectual. Go figure...
# posted by : January 7, 2008 11:47 PM
: January 7, 2008 11:47 PM
Following up on you, Warren, and on 10:52, and without wishing Pres. Summers any financial loss from his investment (“a few tens of thousands of dollars,” he said, adding “not something I’m hoping to retire on” . . . hmm), I just spent about 10 minutes on this site (while watching LSU beat OSU), and can't imagine Big Think (!!) will catch on. Either you don't care what Prof. Pinker has to say about the verb, or you care more than you get from him chatting about it for three minutes, and will have already come to the question by other roads.
The YouTube coattails wish would seem to be based on a deep misunderstanding of America.
The YouTube coattails wish would seem to be based on a deep misunderstanding of America.
# posted by : January 8, 2008 12:02 AM
: January 8, 2008 12:02 AM
Nuts. I was hoping you were taking a stand against using "like" where "such as" would be proper. Those are examples of actual issues that might be discussed, not issues that the ones actually discussed might resemble.
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# posted by : January 11, 2008 11:56 AM
: January 11, 2008 11:56 AM<< Home
