Tonight on Extension 720: On Tuesday, we will choose our next president, but you can vote early tonight on Extension 720 as we open the phone lines to hear our listeners' opinions about the upcoming presidential election. Be sure to call in and voice your opinion as there are just four days until the election.

You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

AFTER ARAFAT, WHAT? Can more conciliatory Palestinian leadership emerge and prevail? David Ignatius ponders the possibilities with useful realism in today's Washington Post.

WHO IS "AZZAM THE AMERICAN?" Inquiring minds--and Homeland Security officials--want to know. What little is so far known is reviewed in this fairly detailed account provided by the Christian Science Monitor.

ABOUT THOSE MISSING EXPLOSIVES: Tom Sowell finds CBS at fault, once again. This column from Town Hall is worth some attention and thought...particularly at Black Rock in New York.

MORE ON HOMO HOBBITUS: The plot--and the hair--thickens according to this report from The Age of Australia.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF AMERICAN JEWS VOTED AS AN INTEREST GROUP? The answer, Don Feder argues in this article from Front Page Magazine, would run opposite to what they will actually do next Tuesday.

ON BEING A NORTH AMERICAN MUSLIM...AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE VEIL: In scholarly corners one often finds telling reflections of inner culture-conflict. This review of a "scholarly" work on the "Muslim Veil in North America" speaks volumes--but needs some decoding by the attentive reader.

ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM RISING...IN THAILAND! This instructive report is hot off the Australian Radio where it was broadcast two nights ago. "Their blood will pour into the land and the rivers," is the message from "the largest Muslim seperatist organisation."

THE LAW BE DAMNED...full speed ahead in support of Kerry: That seems to be the attitude of the people who run the National Education Association which, according to this from the Washington Times, has risked its tax-exempt status to give big bucks to the challenger's campaign.

COMPARING HITLER AND STALIN...is a task that many have set for themselves, most notably Lord Bullock who discussed his book of that title with us some years ago. (Listen here). Now another major comparative study has been published and is approvingly reviewed in this from the Times Literary Supplement.

AND A SECOND REVIEW OF OVERY'S NEW BOOK: Important works still (sometimes) get multiple reviews. Here, from Commentary magazine, are the interesting comments of Daniel Johnson as he evaluates and free associates to the new study of Hitler and Stalin.

WHERE HITLER AND GORING RESTED, FROLICKED AND PLANNED...the Intercontinental Hotel chain now offers you an expensive and plush vacation. This story from the New York Times reminds that the moving finger writes...and having writ, moves on.

HOW TO GET BROADBAND TO EVERYBODY: A consummation devoutly to be wished...perhaps. Here, a team from Brookings and AEI examine the questions of who wants it, who needs it and how its diffusion might best be facilitated.

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHICH IS THE UGLIEST BUILDING OF ALL? They are asking that for a new TV series in Britain. And the plan is to blow up the winner!! Shades of Rand's The Fountainhead!! The rest is here from today's Wall Street Journal.

AND SPEAKING OF BEETHOVEN CONCERTOS...how about the Emperor? This robust performance of The Fifth is by John Lill with the Birmingham Orchestra conducted by Walter Weller.

Tonight on Extension 720: n a two-part program, the program tonight focuses on one man's memories of a lost Chicago and the secrets of magicians. During the first hour, Chicago writer and historian DOUGLAS BUKOWSKI joins the show to discuss his new book Pictures of Home: A Memoir of Family and City. During the second hour, JIM STEINMEYER, author of the new book Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear joins the program to reveal the secrets behind the magic.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

Milt's File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.

Tonight on Extension 720: Samuel Johnson once said: “Sir, I have found you and argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding,” Though Johnson believed in argument without understanding, most people—when they disagree—want to reach a resolution. But how can you go about changing someone’s mind? Logic does not always serve to convince a teenager or someone on the other side of the political spectrum. Tonight, HOWARD GARDNER, professor of cognition and education at Harvard, will give a seminar on how to convince others and change their minds. He is the author of the new book Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People's Minds.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

THE REAL NATURE OF THE PRESENT WAR...is that it was inevitable and that we are winning it IF you know where and how to look. This uncompromising article, lacking in "yes buts" and "on the other handisms," was published yesterday at Front Page Magazine.

THE "MISSING WEAPONS" STORY IS A "DUD"...says James Glassman, former publisher of The New Republic. And here are the well-argued "reasons why."

THE REAL CULPRIT IN THE "DISAPPEARING EXPLOSIVES" CASE...is none other than the International Atomic Energy Agency, strongly abetted by CBS and the New York Times and serving the Kerry Campaign. So says an American military man who has worked with and for the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority.

AND SPEAKING OF THE NEW REPUBLIC...its current editor notes, in this op-ed from today's Washington Post, that the "Jewish vote" is beginning to fragment with traditionalists and modernists going in different directions. Our opinion: It's about time!

MIGHT BE A NICE PLACE TO VISIT...after another two or three million years. Cassini, one of the moons of Saturn, is discovered to look rather like Earth when it was only about three million years old. Let's watch it for the first appearance of LIFE!!

HOMO HOBBITUS? Here's one of the strangest items of paleontological discovery that we have ever seen. Or is it just the fanciful interpretation put upon the bones found on Flores Island by their Australian discoverers?

KERSHAW IS STILL ON THE CASE: One of our most interesting radio conversations in recent years was with Sir Ian Kershaw, author of a fine political biography of Hitler. (The full audio file is here.) Apparently, there are some loose ends that he is still tying up--as one learns from this story in the Belfast Telegraph.

THE "SURVIVAL" OF THE JEWS OF BULGARIA: Two nations managed to protect their Jewish citizens from the Holocaust. Denmark saved all of them--and for good reasons. Bulgaria saved the majority--but for rather mixed reasons. This interesting analysis is the work of a Serbian-American graduate student writing for an Serbian-American publication. We don't vouch for its scholarly accuracy but, all the same, find it a fascinating account.

THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICAN REPUTATIONS: The new evaluative essays for 2004 are just out in the current issue of American Heritage. Robert E. Lee is down and Arlene Francis(!!) is up. For further information and titillation check out the rising and falling candy bars, musicals, founding fathers and novelists here.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICAN HISTORIANS...apart from (but not forgetting) that some of them are plagiarizers? A new book that raises and answers that question is reviewed here for the Boston Globe. Strong and disturbing stuff!

SOME MEN TAKE TO BOOKS...as better men take to drink. So said someone, possibly Ambrose Bierce. A good case in point is this essayist (hiding behind a nom-de-plume--but why?) in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

IF YOU'RE NOT SATISFIED WITH YOUR PRESENT INCOME...you might consider becoming a college president. The pay, as this story from Newsday discloses, isn't half bad. On the other hand, rather than head one of the SUNY colleges you might consider trying for the position at the University of Pennsylvania whose last president was paid a basic salary (not counting "housing allowance" and other perks) of over $850,000!!

HOW ABOUT BEETHOVEN'S SECOND PIANO CONCERTO THREE TIMES AROUND? These separate performances are all quite creditable. Our favorite: the caressing performance by Alfredo Perl with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

Tonight on Extension 720: “Man cannot live by technology alone,” or so thought Arnold Toynbee, but technology certainly makes the world an easier place. Tonight, we examine and celebrate some of the greatest technological achievements of humans throughout history. From gothic cathedrals to jumbo jets, we will look at the melding of craftsmanship, science and aesthetics with E.E. LEWIS, professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern University and author of the new book Masterworks of Technology: The Story of Creative Engineering, Architecture, and Design. He will be joined by KEVIN HARRINGTON, professor of architectural history at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and TOM MISA, associate professor of history at IIT.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

Milt's File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.

Tonight on Extension 720: We once again go inside the ivory tower with three undergraduates from Chicago's universities. They will be on hand to discuss the state of the American university, from academic honesty and integrity to the social pressures that face today's college students. Our guests will include YUEFAN WENG from the University of Chicago, KRISTINE HEITING from Northwestern University, and AMANDA ROGERS of DePaul University, as well as CHARLES LIPSON, professor of political science at the University of Chicago and author of the new book Doing Honest Work in College: How to Prepare Citations, Avoid Plagiarism, and Achieve Real Academic Success.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

PAKISTAN IS POISED ON THE EDGE OF CATASTROPHE...according to Steve Cohen, one of the leading western experts on Southeast Asia. Here is his analysis as presented on one of our recent programs. And here is the highly concordant review of his new book that has just appeared in Foreign Affairs.

THE ARROW CROSS HAUNTS BUDAPEST: Just as in Spain, so in Hungary, fascism lingers on in vestigial and nostalgic form. This account from the Budapest Sun reports a great protest against an attempted public demonstation by the revived neo-fascist, Hungarian-Future party.

HOLBROOKE (TOP KERRY ADVISOR) RESPONDS TO KRAUTHAMMER...and Kristol responds to Holbrooke. Holbrooke, it might be noted, is often mentioned as either head of the National Security Council or Secretary of State in a Kerry administration! The brief note is from the Weekly Standard and the appended "Previous Campaign Memos" is a valuable file well worth reading or re-reading.

AN ELECTOTRAL VOTE UPDATE...is provided today by John McIntyre at the always valuable Real Clear Politics. Bush, apparently, is more likely to garner a majority in the Electoral College but it all hangs on narrow margins which may still shift in some of the crucial states. Read on...

A HEALTH CARE PRIMER...relevant to the election is provided by Cal Thomas who makes his first appearance on our bemused blog.

SAFIRE TO HIS CO-RELIGIONISTS: SO NUUU? The "Jewish vote" once ran against the grain and gave Reagan almost 40%. This time, says the sage of the New York Times op-ed page, it isn't budging much, but should.

OF DAN RATHER, LEWIS LAPHAM AND BROUHAHAS IN THE WORLD OF PUBLISHING: This note from the current issue of The New Criterion will be of interest to those who want to follow the affair of the forged memos to its surreal end.

HAS THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY TURNED ANTI-SEMITIC? A former member of the party who served in Parliament for twenty years and also as a cabinet minister, asserts that it has. What he does demonstrate in this op-ed from The Age (a national newspaper) is that the party he long represented has, at least, joined in the general anti-Israelism that is now often found on the Western left.

FREE SPEECH FOR ME BUT NOT FOR YOU...seems to be the standard still honored at U.Mass (Amherst) according to this article from yesterday's Boston Globe. As usual The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is on the case and, as has happened before, the rather dim administration will now creakily back off.

A WONDERFULLY IRRELEVANT ELECTION POLL...with a sample of four or five, only two of whom may vote. But the "venue" in which the Wisconsin State Journal did the polling is worth the visit.

"A REAL PHONEY NAMED JONATHAN SOMEBODY:" That would be the imagined response of Holden Caulfield to this re-evaluation of the novel in which he lives, Catcher in the Rye. Still, we fear that Yardley of the Washington Post may be on to something and that in the ultimate register of American literature, Salinger will occupy a lower position than he presently does on high school reading lists.

OF THE MAKING OF HOAXES THERE IS NO END...including some perpetrated (for educational purposes, of course) by psychic debunkers like The Amazing Randi. Such hoaxes, ancient and modern, are reviewed in this article from The Skeptical Inquirer. Here's Randi doing the very same on our program a long time ago.

THEY ARE MAKING CHE A HERO AGAIN...in a grossly dishonest new film. Anthony Daniels sets the record straight in this from the current issue of The New Criterion.

FROM THE FIFTIES...some classic performers in high musical form: e.g. Sam Cooke's "You Send Me;" Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire;" Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife;" and Jo Stafford's "You Belong To Me."

FROM THE FIFTIES...some classic performers in high musical form: e.g. Sam Cooke's "You Send Me;" Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire;" Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife;" and Jo Stafford's "You Belong To Me."

FROM THE FIFTIES...some classic performers in high musical form: e.g. Sam Cooke's "You Send Me;" Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire;" Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife;" and Jo Stafford's "You Belong To Me."